My Mother's Kiss
The music of her voice is stilled,Her lips are paled in death.As precious pearls I'll clasp her wordsUntil my latest breath.
The world has scattered round my pathHonor and wealth and fame;But naught so precious as the thoughtsThat gather round her name.
And friends have placed upon my browThe laurels of renown;But she first taught me how to wearMy manhood as a crown.
My hair is silvered o'er with age,I'm longing to depart;To clasp again my mother's hand,And be a child at heart.
To roam with her the glory-landWhere saints and angels greet;To cast our crowns with songs of loveAt our Redeemer's feet.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
My Mother's Kiss is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #679; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, My Mother's Kiss, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/my-mother-s-kiss-2.html, id L10527.
Form and metre
My Mother's Kiss is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-A stilled · deathA · words · breathA
- 2 -A-A path · fameA · thoughts · nameA
- 3 -A-A brow · renownA · wear · crownA
- 4 -A-A age · departA · hand · heartA
- 5 -A-A land · greetA · love · feetA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The music of her voice is stilled, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her lips are paled in death. | 7 | ····˘·· |
| As precious pearls I'll clasp her words | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Until my latest breath. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The world has scattered round my path | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Honor and wealth and fame; | 6 | /˘···· |
| But naught so precious as the thoughts | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That gather round her name. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And friends have placed upon my brow | 8 | ········ |
| The laurels of renown; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| But she first taught me how to wear | 8 | ········ |
| My manhood as a crown. | 6 | ·/···· |
| My hair is silvered o'er with age, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I'm longing to depart; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| To clasp again my mother's hand, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And be a child at heart. | 6 | ······ |
| To roam with her the glory-land | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where saints and angels greet; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To cast our crowns with songs of love | 8 | ··/····· |
| At our Redeemer's feet. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.