The Kiss
I hoped that he would love me,And he has kissed my mouth,But I am like a stricken birdThat cannot reach the south.
For though I know he loves me,To-night my heart is sad;His kiss was not so wonderfulAs all the dreams I had.
Words in this poem
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Kiss is in the public domain. This text is taken from Love Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #442; 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, The Kiss, in Love Songs (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #442, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/teasdale-love-songs/the-kiss.html, id L08058.
Form and metre
The Kiss is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 me · mouthA · bird · southA
- 2 -A-A me · sadA · wonderful · hadA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I hoped that he would love me, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| And he has kissed my mouth, | 7 | ····˘·· |
| But I am like a stricken bird | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That cannot reach the south. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For though I know he loves me, | 7 | ······· |
| To-night my heart is sad; | 6 | ······ |
| His kiss was not so wonderful | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| As all the dreams I had. | 6 | ······ |
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.