The Barrier
I must not gaze at them althoughYour eyes are dawning day;I must not watch you as you goYour sun-illumined way;
I hear but I must never heedThe fascinating note,Which, fluting like a river reed,Comes from your trembling throat;
I must not see upon your faceLove’s softly glowing spark;For there’s the barrier of race,You’re fair and I am dark.
About this text
The Barrier 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, The Barrier, in Harlem Shadows (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #64989, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mckay-harlem-shadows/the-barrier.html, id L01342.
Form and metre
The Barrier is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 althoughA · dayB · goA · wayB
- 2 ABAB heedA · noteB · reedA · throatB
- 3 ABAB faceA · sparkB · raceA · darkB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I must not gaze at them although | 8 | ········ |
| Your eyes are dawning day; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I must not watch you as you go | 8 | ········ |
| Your sun-illumined way; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| I hear but I must never heed | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The fascinating note, | 6 | ·/˘·˘· |
| Which, fluting like a river reed, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Comes from your trembling throat; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| I must not see upon your face | 8 | ········ |
| Love’s softly glowing spark; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| For there’s the barrier of race, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| You’re fair and I am dark. | 6 | ······ |
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.