Too Late
Hush! speak low; tread softly;Draw the sheet aside;--Yes, she does look peaceful;With that smile she died.
Yet stern want and sorrowEven now you traceOn the wan, worn featuresOf the still white face.
Restless, helpless, hopeless,Was her bitter part;--Now--how still the VioletsLie upon her Heart!
She who toiled and labouredFor her daily bread;See the velvet hangingsOf this stately bed.
Yes, they did forgive her;Brought her home at last;Strove to cover overTheir relentless past.
Ah, they would have givenWealth, and home, and pride,To see her just look happyOnce before she died!
They strove hard to please her,But, when death is nearAll you know is deadened,Hope, and joy, and fear.
And besides, one sorrowDeeper still--one painWas beyond them: healingCame to-day--in vain!
If she had but lingeredJust a few hours more;Or had this letter reached herJust one day before!
I can almost pityEven him to-day;Though he let this anguishEat her heart away.
Yet she never blamed him:-One day you shall knowHow this sorrow happened;It was long ago.
I have read the letter:Many a weary year,For one word she hungered--There are thousands here.
If she could but hear it,Could but understand;See--I put the letterIn her cold white hand.
Even these words, so longed for,Do not stir her rest;Well--I should not murmur,For God judges best.
She needs no more pity,--But I mourn his fate,When he hears his letterCame a day too late.
Words in this poem
- laboured a.
- Bearing marks of labor and effort; elaborately wrought; not easy or natural; as, labored poetry; a labored style.
- relentless a.
- Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- 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,]
- hungered a.
- Hungry; pinched for food.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Too Late 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, Too Late, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/too-late.html, id L21764.
Form and metre
Too Late is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 -A-A softly · asideA · peaceful · diedA
- 2 -A-A sorrow · traceA · features · faceA
- 3 -A-A hopeless · partA · violets · heartA
- 4 AA-A labouredA · breadA · hangings · bedA
- 5 -A-A her · lastA · over · pastA
- 6 -A-A given · prideA · happy · diedA
- 7 -A-A her · nearA · deadened · fearA
- 8 -A-A sorrow · painA · healing · vainA
- 9 -A-A lingered · moreA · her · beforeA
- 10 -A-A pity · dayA · anguish · awayA
- 11 -A-A him · knowA · happened · agoA
- 12 -A-A letter · yearA · hungered · hereA
- 13 -A-A it · understandA · letter · handA
- 14 -A-A for · restA · murmur · bestA
- 15 -A-A pity · fateA · letter · lateA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Hush! speak low; tread softly; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Draw the sheet aside;-- | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Yes, she does look peaceful; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| With that smile she died. | 5 | ····· |
| Yet stern want and sorrow | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Even now you trace | 5 | /˘··· |
| On the wan, worn features | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Of the still white face. | 5 | ····· |
| Restless, helpless, hopeless, | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| Was her bitter part;-- | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Now--how still the Violets | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Lie upon her Heart! | 5 | ····· |
| She who toiled and laboured | 6 | ····/˘ |
| For her daily bread; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| See the velvet hangings | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Of this stately bed. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Yes, they did forgive her; | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Brought her home at last; | 5 | ····· |
| Strove to cover over | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Their relentless past. | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| Ah, they would have given | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Wealth, and home, and pride, | 5 | ····· |
| To see her just look happy | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Once before she died! | 5 | ····· |
| They strove hard to please her, | 6 | ······ |
| But, when death is near | 5 | ····· |
| All you know is deadened, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Hope, and joy, and fear. | 5 | ····· |
| And besides, one sorrow | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| Deeper still--one pain | 5 | /˘··· |
| Was beyond them: healing | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Came to-day--in vain! | 5 | ····· |
| If she had but lingered | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Just a few hours more; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Or had this letter reached her | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Just one day before! | 5 | ····· |
| I can almost pity | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| Even him to-day; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Though he let this anguish | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Eat her heart away. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Yet she never blamed him:- | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| One day you shall know | 5 | ····· |
| How this sorrow happened; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| It was long ago. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| I have read the letter: | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Many a weary year, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| For one word she hungered-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| There are thousands here. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| If she could but hear it, | 6 | ······ |
| Could but understand; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| See--I put the letter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| In her cold white hand. | 5 | ····· |
| Even these words, so longed for, | 6 | /····· |
| Do not stir her rest; | 5 | ····· |
| Well--I should not murmur, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| For God judges best. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| She needs no more pity,-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| But I mourn his fate, | 5 | ····· |
| When he hears his letter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Came a day too late. | 5 | ····· |
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.