The Two Maries
We have risen early, yet the sunO'ertakes us ere we reach the sepulchre,To wrap the body of our blessed LordWith our sweet spices.
Lo, this is the garden,And yonder is the sepulchre. But whoShall roll away the stone for us to enter?
It hath been rolled away! The sepulchreIs open! Ah, who hath been here before us,When we rose early, wishing to be first?
I am affrighted!
Hush! I will stoop downAnd look within. There is a young man sittingOn the right side, clothed in a long white garment!It is an angel!
Fear not; ye are seekingJesus of Nazareth, which was crucified.Why do ye seek the living among the dead?He is no longer here; He is arisen!Come see the place where the Lord lay! RememberHow He spake unto you in Galilee,Saying: The Son of Man must be deliveredInto the hands of sinful men; by themBe crucified, and the third day rise again!But go your way, and say to his disciples,He goeth before you into Galilee;There shall ye see Him as He said to you.
I will go swiftly for them.
MARY MAGDALENE, alone, weeping.They have takenMy Lord away from me, and now I know notWhere they have laid Him! Who is there to tell me?This is the gardener. Surely he must know.
Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?
They have taken my Lord away; I cannot find Him.O sir, if thou have borne Him hence, I pray theeTell me where thou hast laid Him.
Words in this poem
- sepulchre n.
- The place in which the dead body of a human being is interred, or a place set apart for that purpose; a grave; a tomb. [OE. sepulcre, OF. sepulcre, F. sépulcre, fr. L. sepulcrum, sepulchrum, fr. sepelire to bury.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- 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,]
- gardener n.
- One who makes and tends a garden; a horticulturist.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Two Maries 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 Two Maries, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-two-maries.html, id L17894.
Form and metre
The Two Maries is 37 lines in 10 stanzas. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.3 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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.
- 6 --A--BA---B- seeking · crucified · deadA · arisen · remember · galileeB · deliveredA · them · again · disciples · galileeB · you
- 10 A-A himA · thee · himA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| We have risen early, yet the sun | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| O'ertakes us ere we reach the sepulchre, | 9 | ········· |
| To wrap the body of our blessed Lord | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| With our sweet spices. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Lo, this is the garden, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And yonder is the sepulchre. But who | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Shall roll away the stone for us to enter? | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| It hath been rolled away! The sepulchre | 10 | ····˘˘/··· |
| Is open! Ah, who hath been here before us, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| When we rose early, wishing to be first? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I am affrighted! | 5 | ····· |
| Hush! I will stoop down | 5 | ····· |
| And look within. There is a young man sitting | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| On the right side, clothed in a long white garment! | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| It is an angel! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Fear not; ye are seeking | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Why do ye seek the living among the dead? | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| He is no longer here; He is arisen! | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Come see the place where the Lord lay! Remember | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| How He spake unto you in Galilee, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Saying: The Son of Man must be delivered | 11 | /˘······˘/˘ |
| Into the hands of sinful men; by them | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Be crucified, and the third day rise again! | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| But go your way, and say to his disciples, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| He goeth before you into Galilee; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| There shall ye see Him as He said to you. | 10 | ·········· |
| I will go swiftly for them. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| MARY MAGDALENE, alone, weeping. | 9 | /˘/˘·˘//˘ |
| They have taken | 4 | ··/˘ |
| My Lord away from me, and now I know not | 11 | ··˘/······· |
| Where they have laid Him! Who is there to tell me? | 11 | ··········· |
| This is the gardener. Surely he must know. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| They have taken my Lord away; I cannot find Him. | 13 | ··/˘··˘/·/˘·· |
| O sir, if thou have borne Him hence, I pray thee | 11 | ··········· |
| Tell me where thou hast laid Him. | 7 | ······· |
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