Acceptance
Yea, she hath looked Truth grimly face to face,And drained unto the lees the proffered cup.This silence is not patience, nor the graceOf recognition, meekly offered up,But mere acceptance fraught with keenest pain,Seeing that all her struggles must be vain.
Her future clear and terrible outlies,--This burden to be borne through all her days,This crown of thorns pressed down above her eyes,This weight of trouble she may never raise.No reconcilement doth she ask nor wait;Knowing such things are, she endures her fate.
No brave endeavor of the broken willTo cling to such poor stays as will abide(Although the waves be wild and angry still)After the lapsing of the swollen tide.No fear of further loss, no hope of gain,Naught but the apathy of weary pain.
Words in this poem
- grimly a.
- Grim; hideous; stern.
- meekly adv.
- In a meek manner.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Acceptance is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #3295; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emma Lazarus, Acceptance, in Poems, Volume I (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/acceptance.html, id L01870.
Form and metre
Acceptance is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCC faceA · cupB · graceA · upB · painC · vainC
- 2 ABABCC outliesA · daysB · eyesA · raiseB · waitC · fateC
- 3 ABABCC willA · abideB · stillA · tideB · gainC · painC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Yea, she hath looked Truth grimly face to face, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And drained unto the lees the proffered cup. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This silence is not patience, nor the grace | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of recognition, meekly offered up, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| But mere acceptance fraught with keenest pain, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Seeing that all her struggles must be vain. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Her future clear and terrible outlies,-- | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| This burden to be borne through all her days, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| This crown of thorns pressed down above her eyes, | 10 | ·········· |
| This weight of trouble she may never raise. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| No reconcilement doth she ask nor wait; | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Knowing such things are, she endures her fate. | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| No brave endeavor of the broken will | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| To cling to such poor stays as will abide | 10 | ········˘/ |
| (Although the waves be wild and angry still) | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| After the lapsing of the swollen tide. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| No fear of further loss, no hope of gain, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Naught but the apathy of weary pain. | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
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.