Memorial
Your body was a sacred cell always,A jewel that grew dull in garish light,An opal which beneath my wondering gazeGleamed rarely, softly throbbing in the night.
I touched your flesh with reverential hands,For you were sweet and timid like a flowerThat blossoms out of barren tropic sands,Shedding its perfume in one golden hour.
You yielded to my touch with gentle grace,And though my passion was a mighty waveThat buried you beneath its strong embrace,You were yet happy in the moment’s grave.
Still more than passion consummate to me,More than the nuptials immemorial sung,Was the warm thrill that melted me to seeYour clean brown body, beautiful and young;
The joy in your maturity at length,The peace that filled my soul like cooling wine,When you responded to my tender strength,And pressed your heart exulting into mine.
How shall I with such memories of youIn coarser forms of love fruition find?No, I would rather like a ghost pursueThe fairy phantoms of my lonely mind.
Words in this poem
- garish a.
- Showy; dazzling; ostentatious; attracting or exciting attention. [Cf. OE. gauren to stare; of uncertain origin. Cf. gairish.]
- immemorial a.
- Extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition; indefinitely ancient; as, existing from time immemorial. [Pref. im- not + memorial: cf. F. immémorial.]
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- 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,]
- fruition n.
- Use or possession of anything, especially such as is accompanied with pleasure or satisfaction; pleasure derived from possession or use. [OF. fruition, L. fruitio, enjoyment, fr. L. frui, p. p. fruitus, to use or enjoy. See Fruit, n.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Memorial 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, Memorial, in Harlem Shadows (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #64989, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mckay-harlem-shadows/memorial.html, id L01407.
Form and metre
Memorial is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% 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. 25% 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 alwaysA · lightB · gazeA · nightB
- 2 ABAB handsA · flowerB · sandsA · hourB
- 3 ABAB graceA · waveB · embraceA · graveB
- 4 ABAB meA · sungB · seeA · youngB
- 5 ABAB lengthA · wineB · strengthA · mineB
- 6 ABAB youA · findB · pursueA · mindB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Your body was a sacred cell always, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/· |
| A jewel that grew dull in garish light, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| An opal which beneath my wondering gaze | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Gleamed rarely, softly throbbing in the night. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| I touched your flesh with reverential hands, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| For you were sweet and timid like a flower | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| That blossoms out of barren tropic sands, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Shedding its perfume in one golden hour. | 11 | /˘·˘/··/˘/˘ |
| You yielded to my touch with gentle grace, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And though my passion was a mighty wave | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That buried you beneath its strong embrace, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| You were yet happy in the moment’s grave. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Still more than passion consummate to me, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| More than the nuptials immemorial sung, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Was the warm thrill that melted me to see | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Your clean brown body, beautiful and young; | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| The joy in your maturity at length, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| The peace that filled my soul like cooling wine, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When you responded to my tender strength, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And pressed your heart exulting into mine. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| How shall I with such memories of you | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| In coarser forms of love fruition find? | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| No, I would rather like a ghost pursue | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The fairy phantoms of my lonely mind. | 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.