The Inheritance
SINCE you did departOut of my reach, my darling,Into the hidden,I see each shadow startWith recognition, and IAm wonder-ridden.
I am dazed with the farewell,But I scarcely feel your loss.You left me a giftOf tongues, so the shadows tellMe things, and silences tossMe their drift.
You sent me a cloven fireOut of death, and it burns in the draughtOf the breathing hosts,Kindles the darkening pyreFor the sorrowful, till strange brands waftLike candid ghosts.
Form after form, in the streetsWaves like a ghost along,Kindled to me;The star above the house-top greetsMe every eve with a longSong fierily.
All day long, the townGlimmers with subtle ghostsGoing up and downIn a common, prison-like dress;But their daunted looking flickersTo me, and I answer, Yes!
So I am not lonely nor sadAlthough bereaved of you,My little love.I move among a kinsfolk cladWith words, but the dream shows throughAs they move.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- pyre n.
- A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt. [L. pure, Gr. Fire.]
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- kinsfolk n.
- Relatives; kindred; kin; persons of the same family or closely or closely related families.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Inheritance is in the public domain. This text is taken from Amores: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22531; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: D. H. Lawrence, The Inheritance, in Amores (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22531, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawrence-amores/the-inheritance.html, id L13574.
Form and metre
The Inheritance is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABCABC, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 56% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 A-BA-B departA · darling · hiddenB · startA · i · riddenB
- 2 ABCABC farewellA · lossB · giftC · tellA · tossB · driftC
- 3 A-BA-B fireA · draught · hostsB · pyreA · waft · ghostsB
- 4 AB-AB- streetsA · alongB · me · greetsA · longB · fierily
- 5 A-AB-B townA · ghosts · downA · dressB · flickers · yesB
- 6 ABCABC sadA · youB · loveC · cladA · throughB · moveC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| SINCE you did depart | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Out of my reach, my darling, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Into the hidden, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| I see each shadow start | 6 | ···/·· |
| With recognition, and I | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Am wonder-ridden. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| I am dazed with the farewell, | 7 | ······/ |
| But I scarcely feel your loss. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| You left me a gift | 5 | ····· |
| Of tongues, so the shadows tell | 7 | ····/·· |
| Me things, and silences toss | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Me their drift. | 3 | ··· |
| You sent me a cloven fire | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Out of death, and it burns in the draught | 9 | ········· |
| Of the breathing hosts, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Kindles the darkening pyre | 8 | /˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| For the sorrowful, till strange brands waft | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| Like candid ghosts. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Form after form, in the streets | 7 | ······· |
| Waves like a ghost along, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Kindled to me; | 4 | /˘·· |
| The star above the house-top greets | 8 | ········ |
| Me every eve with a long | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Song fierily. | 4 | ···· |
| All day long, the town | 5 | ····· |
| Glimmers with subtle ghosts | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Going up and down | 5 | /˘··· |
| In a common, prison-like dress; | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| But their daunted looking flickers | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| To me, and I answer, Yes! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| So I am not lonely nor sad | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Although bereaved of you, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| My little love. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I move among a kinsfolk clad | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With words, but the dream shows through | 7 | ······· |
| As they move. | 3 | ··· |
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.