Truth
Grandma, he said, must be lonesome,And mamma has gone to her.
But the question lies unansweredIn our little Jamie's mind,Why she should go to our mother,And leave her children behind;
To dwell in that lovely city,From all that was dear to part,From children who loved to nestleSo closely around her heart.
Dear child, like you, we are puzzled,With problems that still remain;But think in the great hereafterTheir meaning will all be plain.
Words in this poem
- grandma n.
- A grand mother.
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- unanswered a.
- Not answered; not replied; as, an unanswered letter.
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- nestle v. i.
- To make and occupy a nest; to nest. [AS. nestlian.]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Truth 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, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/truth.html, id L10569.
Form and metre
Truth is 14 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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.
- 2 -A-A unanswered · mindA · mother · behindA
- 3 -A-A city · partA · nestle · heartA
- 4 -A-A puzzled · remainA · hereafter · plainA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grandma, he said, must be lonesome, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| And mamma has gone to her. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But the question lies unanswered | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In our little Jamie's mind, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Why she should go to our mother, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And leave her children behind; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| To dwell in that lovely city, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| From all that was dear to part, | 7 | ······· |
| From children who loved to nestle | 8 | ·/˘···// |
| So closely around her heart. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Dear child, like you, we are puzzled, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| With problems that still remain; | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| But think in the great hereafter | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Their meaning will all be plain. | 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.