The Grave
For thee was a house builtEre thou wast born,For thee was a mould meantEre thou of mother camest.But it is not made ready,Nor its depth measured,Nor is it seenHow long it shall be.Now I bring theeWhere thou shalt be;Now I shall measure thee,And the mould afterwards.
Thy house is notHighly timbered,It is unhigh and low;When thou art therein,The heel-ways are low,The side-ways unhigh.The roof is builtThy breast full nigh,So thou shalt in mouldDwell full cold,Dimly and dark.
Doorless is that house,And dark it is within;There thou art fast detainedAnd Death hath the key.Loathsome is that earth-house,And grim within to dwell.There thou shalt dwell,And worms shall divide thee.Thus thou art laid,
And leavest thy friendsThou hast no friend,Who will come to thee,Who will ever seeHow that house pleaseth thee;Who will ever openThe door for thee,And descend after thee;For soon thou art loathsomeAnd hateful to see.
Words in this poem
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- 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,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- timbered a.
- Furnished with timber; -- often compounded; as, a well-timbered house; a low-timbered house. L'Estrange.
- 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]
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- doorless a.
- Without a door.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Grave 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, The Grave, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-grave.html, id L18070.
Form and metre
The Grave is 42 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 -------AAAA- built · born · meant · camest · ready · measured · seen · beA · theeA · beA · theeA · afterwards
- 2 --A-AB-BCC- not · timbered · lowA · therein · lowA · unhighB · built · nighB · mouldC · coldC · dark
- 3 A--BACCB- houseA · within · detained · keyB · houseA · dwellC · dwellC · theeB · laid
- 4 --AAA-AA-A friends · friend · theeA · seeA · theeA · open · theeA · theeA · loathsome · seeA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| For thee was a house built | 6 | ······ |
| Ere thou wast born, | 4 | ···· |
| For thee was a mould meant | 6 | ······ |
| Ere thou of mother camest. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| But it is not made ready, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Nor its depth measured, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Nor is it seen | 4 | ···· |
| How long it shall be. | 5 | ····· |
| Now I bring thee | 4 | ···· |
| Where thou shalt be; | 4 | ···· |
| Now I shall measure thee, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And the mould afterwards. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Thy house is not | 4 | ···· |
| Highly timbered, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| It is unhigh and low; | 6 | ······ |
| When thou art therein, | 5 | ····· |
| The heel-ways are low, | 5 | ····· |
| The side-ways unhigh. | 5 | ····· |
| The roof is built | 4 | ···· |
| Thy breast full nigh, | 4 | ···· |
| So thou shalt in mould | 5 | ····· |
| Dwell full cold, | 3 | ··· |
| Dimly and dark. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Doorless is that house, | 5 | /˘··· |
| And dark it is within; | 6 | ······ |
| There thou art fast detained | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And Death hath the key. | 5 | ····· |
| Loathsome is that earth-house, | 6 | /˘···· |
| And grim within to dwell. | 6 | ······ |
| There thou shalt dwell, | 4 | ···· |
| And worms shall divide thee. | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Thus thou art laid, | 4 | ···· |
| And leavest thy friends | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Thou hast no friend, | 4 | ···· |
| Who will come to thee, | 5 | ····· |
| Who will ever see | 5 | ··/˘· |
| How that house pleaseth thee; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who will ever open | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| The door for thee, | 4 | ···· |
| And descend after thee; | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| For soon thou art loathsome | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And hateful to see. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
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.