A Fragment
Awake! arise! the hour is late!Angels are knocking at thy door!They are in haste and cannot wait,And once departed come no more.
Awake! arise! the athlete's armLoses its strength by too much rest;The fallow land, the untilled farmProduces only weeds at best.
When I compareWhat I have lost with what I have gained,What I have missed with what attained,Little room do I find for pride.
I am awareHow many days have been idly spent;How like an arrow the good intentHas fallen short or been turned aside.
But who shall dareTo measure loss and gain in this wise?Defeat may be victory in disguise;The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Fragment is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Fragment, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/a-fragment.html, id L17848.
Form and metre
A Fragment is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% 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.
- 1 ABAB lateA · doorB · waitA · moreB
- 2 CDCD armC · restD · farmC · bestD
- 3 EFFG compareE · gainedF · attainedF · prideG
- 4 EHHG awareE · spentH · intentH · asideG
- 5 EIIG dareE · wiseI · disguiseI · tideG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Awake! arise! the hour is late! | 8 | ˘/˘/·/·· |
| Angels are knocking at thy door! | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| They are in haste and cannot wait, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And once departed come no more. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Awake! arise! the athlete's arm | 8 | ˘/˘/·/·· |
| Loses its strength by too much rest; | 8 | /˘······ |
| The fallow land, the untilled farm | 8 | ·/···˘/· |
| Produces only weeds at best. | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| When I compare | 4 | ··˘/ |
| What I have lost with what I have gained, | 9 | ········· |
| What I have missed with what attained, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Little room do I find for pride. | 8 | /˘······ |
| I am aware | 4 | ··˘/ |
| How many days have been idly spent; | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| How like an arrow the good intent | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Has fallen short or been turned aside. | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| But who shall dare | 4 | ···· |
| To measure loss and gain in this wise? | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Defeat may be victory in disguise; | 9 | ˘/··/˘·˘/ |
| The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide. | 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.