Edged Tools
Well, Helen, quite two years have flownSince that enchanted, dreamy night,When you and I were left alone,And wondered whether they were rightWho said that each the other loved;And thus debating, yes and no,And half in earnest, as it proved,We bargained to pretend ’twas so.
Two sceptic children of the world,Each with a heart engraven o’erWith broken love-knots, quaintly curled,Of hot flirtations held before;Yet, somehow, either seemed to find,This time, a something more akinTo that young, natural love,—the kindWhich comes but once, and breaks us in.
What sweetly stolen hours we knew,And frolics perilous as gay!Though lit in sport, Love’s taper grewMore bright and burning day by day.We knew each heart was only lent,The other’s ancient scars to heal:The very thought a pathos blentWith all the mirth we tried to feel.
How bravely, when the time to partCame with the wanton season’s close,Though nature with our mutual artHad mingled more than either chose,We smothered Love, upon the vergeOf folly, in one last embrace,And buried him without a dirge,And turned, and left his resting-place.
Yet often (tell me what it means!)His spirit steals upon me here,Far, far away from all the scenesHis little lifetime held so dear;He comes: I hear a mystic strainIn which some tender memory lies;I dally with your hair again;I catch the gleam of violet eyes.
Ah, Helen! how have matters beenSince those rude obsequies, with you?Say, is my partner in the sinA sharer of the penance too?Again the vision’s at my side:I drop my head upon my breast,And wonder if he really died,And why his spirit will not rest.
Words in this poem
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- wondered a.
- Having performed wonders; able to perform wonderful things.
- debating n.
- The act of discussing or arguing; discussion. Debating society or club, a society or club for the purpose of debate and improvement in extemporaneous speaking.
- sceptic
- etc. See Skeptic, Skeptical, Skepticism, etc.
- quaintly adv.
- In a quaint manner.
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- dirge n.
- A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
- lifetime n.
- The time that life continues.
- dally v. i.
- To waste time in effeminate or voluptuous pleasures, or in idleness; to fool away time; to delay unnecessarily; to tarry; to trifle. [OE. , dailien; cf. Icel. pylja to talk, G. dallen, dalen, dahlen, to trifle, talk nonsense, OSw. tule a droll or funny man; or AS. dol foolish, E. dull.]
- sharer n.
- One who shares; a participator; a partaker; also, a divider; a distributer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Edged Tools is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of Edmund Clarence Stedman, Project Gutenberg ebook #70763; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edmund Clarence Stedman, Edged Tools, in The Poetical Works of Edmund Clarence Stedman (1860–1897), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70763, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stedman-poems/edged-tools.html, id L10684.
Form and metre
Edged Tools is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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-C-C flownA · nightB · aloneA · rightB · loved · noC · proved · soC
- 2 A-A-BCBC worldA · o'er · curledA · before · findB · akinC · kindB · inC
- 3 ABABCDCD knewA · gayB · grewA · dayB · lentC · healD · blentC · feelD
- 4 ABABCDCD partA · closeB · artA · choseB · vergeC · embraceD · dirgeC · placeD
- 5 ABABCDCD meansA · hereB · scenesA · dearB · strainC · liesD · againC · eyesD
- 6 ABABCDCD beenA · youB · sinA · tooB · sideC · breastD · diedC · restD
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Well, Helen, quite two years have flown | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Since that enchanted, dreamy night, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| When you and I were left alone, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And wondered whether they were right | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Who said that each the other loved; | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| And thus debating, yes and no, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And half in earnest, as it proved, | 9 | ···/˘···˘ |
| We bargained to pretend ’twas so. | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/·· |
| Two sceptic children of the world, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each with a heart engraven o’er | 8 | ········ |
| With broken love-knots, quaintly curled, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·˘ |
| Of hot flirtations held before; | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Yet, somehow, either seemed to find, | 9 | ·/·/˘·˘·· |
| This time, a something more akin | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To that young, natural love,—the kind | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Which comes but once, and breaks us in. | 8 | ········ |
| What sweetly stolen hours we knew, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| And frolics perilous as gay! | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Though lit in sport, Love’s taper grew | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| More bright and burning day by day. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We knew each heart was only lent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The other’s ancient scars to heal: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The very thought a pathos blent | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With all the mirth we tried to feel. | 8 | ········ |
| How bravely, when the time to part | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Came with the wanton season’s close, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Though nature with our mutual art | 10 | ·/˘·/˘/˘˘· |
| Had mingled more than either chose, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| We smothered Love, upon the verge | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Of folly, in one last embrace, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And buried him without a dirge, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And turned, and left his resting-place. | 9 | ··˘···/˘· |
| Yet often (tell me what it means!) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His spirit steals upon me here, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Far, far away from all the scenes | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| His little lifetime held so dear; | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| He comes: I hear a mystic strain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In which some tender memory lies; | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| I dally with your hair again; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| I catch the gleam of violet eyes. | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Ah, Helen! how have matters been | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Since those rude obsequies, with you? | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Say, is my partner in the sin | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A sharer of the penance too? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Again the vision’s at my side: | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| I drop my head upon my breast, | 8 | ········ |
| And wonder if he really died, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And why his spirit will not rest. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.