The Tryst
Sleeping, I dreamed that thou wast mine,In some ambrosial lovers’ shrine.My lips against thy lips were pressed,And all our passion was confessed;So near and dear my darling seemed,I knew not that I only dreamed.Waking, this mid and moonlit night,I clasp thee close by lover’s right.Thou fearest not my warm embrace,And yet, so like the dream thy faceAnd kisses, I but half partakeThe joy, and know not if I wake.
Words in this poem
- wast
- The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style.
- ambrosial a.
- Consisting of, or partaking of the nature of, ambrosia; delighting the taste or smell; delicious.
- moonlit a.
- Illumined by the moon.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tryst 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, The Tryst, in The Poetical Works of Edmund Clarence Stedman (1860–1897), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70763, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stedman-poems/the-tryst.html, id L10696.
Form and metre
The Tryst is 12 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFF mineA · shrineA · pressedB · confessedB · seemedC · dreamedC · nightD · rightD · embraceE · faceE · partakeF · wakeF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sleeping, I dreamed that thou wast mine, | 9 | /˘··˘···· |
| In some ambrosial lovers’ shrine. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| My lips against thy lips were pressed, | 9 | ········˘ |
| And all our passion was confessed; | 10 | ··/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| So near and dear my darling seemed, | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| I knew not that I only dreamed. | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| Waking, this mid and moonlit night, | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| I clasp thee close by lover’s right. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thou fearest not my warm embrace, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And yet, so like the dream thy face | 8 | ········ |
| And kisses, I but half partake | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The joy, and know not if I wake. | 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.