In the Churchyard at Tarrytown
Here lies the gentle humorist, who diedIn the bright Indian Summer of his fame!A simple stone, with but a date and name,Marks his secluded resting-place besideThe river that he loved and glorified.Here in the autumn of his days he came,But the dry leaves of life were all aflameWith tints that brightened and were multiplied.How sweet a life was his; how sweet a death!Living, to wing with mirth the weary hours,Or with romantic tales the heart to cheer;Dying, to leave a memory like the breathOf summers full of sunshine and of showers,A grief and gladness in the atmosphere.
Words in this poem
- humorist n.
- One who attributes diseases of the state of the humors. [Cf. F. humoriste.]
- aflame adv.
- Inflames; glowing with light or passion; ablaze. G. Eliot. [Pref. a- + flame.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Churchyard at Tarrytown 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, In the Churchyard at Tarrytown, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/in-the-churchyard-at-tarrytown.html, id L17754.
Form and metre
In the Churchyard at Tarrytown is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDECDE, the pattern of the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other Italian sonnets, 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 ABBAABBACDECDE diedA · fameB · nameB · besideA · glorifiedA · cameB · aflameB · multipliedA · deathC · hoursD · cheerE · breathC · showersD · atmosphereE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Here lies the gentle humorist, who died | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| In the bright Indian Summer of his fame! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A simple stone, with but a date and name, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Marks his secluded resting-place beside | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The river that he loved and glorified. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Here in the autumn of his days he came, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But the dry leaves of life were all aflame | 10 | ········˘/ |
| With tints that brightened and were multiplied. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| How sweet a life was his; how sweet a death! | 10 | ·········· |
| Living, to wing with mirth the weary hours, | 11 | /˘·····/˘/˘ |
| Or with romantic tales the heart to cheer; | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Dying, to leave a memory like the breath | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Of summers full of sunshine and of showers, | 11 | ·/˘··/···/˘ |
| A grief and gladness in the atmosphere. | 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.