Truth. 37
And kissed the shadows from his faceWith tender love and gentle grace.
Day, pausing at the gates of rest,Smiled on him from the distant West,And from her throne the dark-browed NightThrew round his path her softest light.And yet he stood unmoved and proud,Nor love, nor wrath, his spirit bowed;He bared his brow to every blastAnd scorned the tempest as it passed.
One day a tiny, humble seed--The keenest eye would hardly heed--Fell trembling at that stern rock's base,And found a lowly hiding-place.A ray of light, and drop of dew,Came with a message, kind and true;They told her of the world so bright,Its love, its joy, and rosy light,And lured her from her hiding-place,To gaze upon earth's glorious face.
So, peeping timid from the ground,She clasped the ancient rock around,And climbing up with childish grace,She held him with a close embrace;
Words in this poem
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Truth. 37 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, Truth. 37, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/truth-37.html, id L10571.
Form and metre
Truth. 37 is 24 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, 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 8.0 syllables. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AA faceA · graceA
- 2 AABBCCDD restA · westA · nightB · lightB · proudC · bowedC · blastD · passedD
- 3 AABBCCDDBB seedA · heedA · baseB · placeB · dewC · trueC · brightD · lightD · placeB · faceB
- 4 AABB groundA · aroundA · graceB · embraceB
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| And kissed the shadows from his face | 8 | ···/···· |
| With tender love and gentle grace. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Day, pausing at the gates of rest, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Smiled on him from the distant West, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And from her throne the dark-browed Night | 8 | ········ |
| Threw round his path her softest light. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And yet he stood unmoved and proud, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Nor love, nor wrath, his spirit bowed; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He bared his brow to every blast | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And scorned the tempest as it passed. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| One day a tiny, humble seed-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The keenest eye would hardly heed-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Fell trembling at that stern rock's base, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And found a lowly hiding-place. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A ray of light, and drop of dew, | 8 | ········ |
| Came with a message, kind and true; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They told her of the world so bright, | 8 | ········ |
| Its love, its joy, and rosy light, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And lured her from her hiding-place, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To gaze upon earth's glorious face. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So, peeping timid from the ground, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| She clasped the ancient rock around, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And climbing up with childish grace, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She held him with a close embrace; | 8 | ······˘/ |
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.