A Woman's Last Word
Well--the links are broken,All is past;This farewell, when spoken,Is the last.I have tried and strivenAll in vain;Such bonds must be riven,Spite of pain,And never, never, neverKnit again.
So I tell you plainly,It must be:I shall try, not vainly,To be free;Truer, happier chancesWait me yet,While you, through fresh fancies,Can forget;--And life has nobler usesThan Regret.
All past words retracing,One by one,Does not help effacingWhat is done.Let it be. Oh, strongerLinks can break!Had we dreamed still longerWe could wake,--Yet let us part in kindnessFor Love's sake.
Bitterness and sorrowWill at last,In some bright to-morrow,Heal their past;But future hearts will neverBe as trueAs mine was--is ever,Dear, for you . . .. . . Then must we part, when lovingAs we do?
Words in this poem
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Woman's Last Word is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, A Woman's Last Word, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/a-woman-s-last-word.html, id L21812.
Form and metre
A Woman's Last Word is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is trochaic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in trochaic dimeter.
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 ABABCDCD-D brokenA · pastB · spokenA · lastB · strivenC · vainD · rivenC · painD · never · againD
- 2 ABAB-C-C-C plainlyA · beB · vainlyA · freeB · chances · yetC · fancies · forgetC · uses · regretC
- 3 ABABCDCD-D retracingA · oneB · effacingA · doneB · strongerC · breakD · longerC · wakeD · kindness · sakeD
- 4 ABABCDCD-D sorrowA · lastB · morrowA · pastB · neverC · trueD · everC · youD · loving · doD
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Well--the links are broken, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All is past; | 3 | ··· |
| This farewell, when spoken, | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| Is the last. | 3 | ··· |
| I have tried and striven | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All in vain; | 3 | ··· |
| Such bonds must be riven, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Spite of pain, | 3 | ··· |
| And never, never, never | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Knit again. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| So I tell you plainly, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| It must be: | 3 | ··· |
| I shall try, not vainly, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| To be free; | 3 | ··· |
| Truer, happier chances | 7 | /˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Wait me yet, | 3 | ··· |
| While you, through fresh fancies, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Can forget;-- | 3 | ·˘/ |
| And life has nobler uses | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Than Regret. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| All past words retracing, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| One by one, | 3 | ··· |
| Does not help effacing | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| What is done. | 3 | ··· |
| Let it be. Oh, stronger | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Links can break! | 3 | ··· |
| Had we dreamed still longer | 6 | ····/˘ |
| We could wake,-- | 3 | ··· |
| Yet let us part in kindness | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For Love's sake. | 3 | ··· |
| Bitterness and sorrow | 6 | /˘˘·/˘ |
| Will at last, | 3 | ··· |
| In some bright to-morrow, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Heal their past; | 3 | ··· |
| But future hearts will never | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Be as true | 3 | ··· |
| As mine was--is ever, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Dear, for you . . . | 3 | ··· |
| . . . Then must we part, when loving | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| As we do? | 3 | ··· |
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.