In the End
All that could never be said,All that could never be done,Wait for us at lastSomewhere back of the sun;
All the heart broke to foregoShall be ours without pain,We shall take them as lightly as girlsPluck flowers after rain.
And when they are ours in the endPerhaps after allThe skies will not open for usNor heaven be there at our call.
It will not change nowAfter so many years;Life has not broken itWith parting or tears;Death will not alter it,It will live onIn all my songs for youWhen I am gone.
Words in this poem
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- forego v. t.
- To quit; to relinquish; to leave. [See Forgo.]
- 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
In the End is in the public domain. This text is taken from Flame and Shadow, Project Gutenberg ebook #591; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sara Teasdale, In the End, in Flame and Shadow (1920), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/teasdale-flame-shadow/in-the-end.html, id L17019.
Form and metre
In the End is 20 lines in 4 stanzas. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 said · doneA · last · sunA
- 2 -A-A forego · painA · girls · rainA
- 3 -A-A end · allA · us · callA
- 4 -ABABC-C now · yearsA · itB · tearsA · itB · onC · you · goneC
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| All that could never be said, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| All that could never be done, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Wait for us at last | 5 | ····· |
| Somewhere back of the sun; | 6 | /····· |
| All the heart broke to forego | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Shall be ours without pain, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| We shall take them as lightly as girls | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Pluck flowers after rain. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And when they are ours in the end | 8 | ····/··· |
| Perhaps after all | 5 | ˘/··· |
| The skies will not open for us | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Nor heaven be there at our call. | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| It will not change now | 5 | ····· |
| After so many years; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Life has not broken it | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With parting or tears; | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Death will not alter it, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It will live on | 4 | ···· |
| In all my songs for you | 6 | ······ |
| When I am gone. | 4 | ···· |
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.