Experience II
O Death, we come full-handed to thy gate,Rich with strange burden of the mingled years,Gains and renunciations, mirth and tears,And love's oblivion, and remembering hate.Nor know we what compulsion laid such freightUpon our souls--and shall our hopes and fearsBuy nothing of thee, Death? Behold our wares,And sell us the one joy for which we wait.Had we lived longer, life had such for sale,With the last coin of sorrow purchased cheap,But now we stand before thy shadowy pale,And all our longings lie within thy keep--Death, can it be the years shall naught avail?
"Not so," Death answered, "they shall purchase sleep."
Words in this poem
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- 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
Experience II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Artemis to Actaeon, and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #4549; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edith Wharton, Experience II, in Artemis to Actaeon, and Other Verse (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wharton-artemis/experience-ii.html, id L22228.
Form and metre
Experience II is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAABBACDCDC gateA · yearsB · tearsB · hateA · freightA · fearsB · waresB · waitA · saleC · cheapD · paleC · keepD · availC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Death, we come full-handed to thy gate, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Rich with strange burden of the mingled years, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Gains and renunciations, mirth and tears, | 10 | ··˘·˘/˘··· |
| And love's oblivion, and remembering hate. | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Nor know we what compulsion laid such freight | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Upon our souls--and shall our hopes and fears | 10 | ··/···/··· |
| Buy nothing of thee, Death? Behold our wares, | 10 | ·/˘···˘//· |
| And sell us the one joy for which we wait. | 10 | ·········· |
| Had we lived longer, life had such for sale, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With the last coin of sorrow purchased cheap, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| But now we stand before thy shadowy pale, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And all our longings lie within thy keep-- | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Death, can it be the years shall naught avail? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| "Not so," Death answered, "they shall purchase sleep." | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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.