A Memory of June
When June comes dancing o’er the death of May,With scarlet roses tinting her green breast,And mating thrushes ushering in her day,And Earth on tiptoe for her golden guest,
I always see the evening when we met--The first of June baptized in tender rain--And walked home through the wide streets, gleaming wet,Arms locked, our warm flesh pulsing with love’s pain.
I always see the cheerful little room,And in the corner, fresh and white, the bed,Sweet scented with a delicate perfume,Wherein for one night only we were wed;
Where in the starlit stillness we lay mute,And heard the whispering showers all night long,And your brown burning body was a luteWhereon my passion played his fevered song.
When June comes dancing o’er the death of May,With scarlet roses staining her fair feet,My soul takes leave of me to sing all dayA love so fugitive and so complete.
Words in this poem
- tiptoe n.
- The end, or tip, of the toe.
- starlit a.
- Lighted by the stars; starlight.
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Memory of June is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harlem shadows, Project Gutenberg ebook #64989; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Claude McKay, A Memory of June, in Harlem Shadows (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #64989, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mckay-harlem-shadows/a-memory-of-june.html, id L01398.
Form and metre
A Memory of June is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 10% 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 ABAB mayA · breastB · dayA · guestB
- 2 ABAB metA · rainB · wetA · painB
- 3 ABAB roomA · bedB · perfumeA · wedB
- 4 ABAB muteA · longB · luteA · songB
- 5 ABAB mayA · feetB · dayA · completeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When June comes dancing o’er the death of May, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With scarlet roses tinting her green breast, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And mating thrushes ushering in her day, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And Earth on tiptoe for her golden guest, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| I always see the evening when we met-- | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| The first of June baptized in tender rain-- | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And walked home through the wide streets, gleaming wet, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Arms locked, our warm flesh pulsing with love’s pain. | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| I always see the cheerful little room, | 10 | ·/···/˘/˘· |
| And in the corner, fresh and white, the bed, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Sweet scented with a delicate perfume, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘/ |
| Wherein for one night only we were wed; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Where in the starlit stillness we lay mute, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And heard the whispering showers all night long, | 10 | ···/˘˘/··· |
| And your brown burning body was a lute | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Whereon my passion played his fevered song. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| When June comes dancing o’er the death of May, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With scarlet roses staining her fair feet, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| My soul takes leave of me to sing all day | 10 | ·········· |
| A love so fugitive and so complete. | 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.