Answered
Good-bye--yes, I am going.Sudden? Well, you are right;But a startling truth came home to meWith sudden force last night.What is it? Shall I tell you?Nay, that is why I go.I am running away from the battlefieldTurning my back on the foe.
Riddles? You think me cruel!Have you not been most kind?Why, when you question me like that,What answer can I find?You fear you failed to amuse me,Your husband's friend and guest,Whom he bade you entertain and please--Well, you have done your best.Then why am I going?A friend of mine abroad,Whose theories I have been acting upon,Has proven himself a fraud.You have heard me quote from PlatoA thousand times no doubt;Well, I have discovered he did not knowWhat he was talking about.
You think I am speaking strangely?You cannot understand?Well, let me look down into your eyes,And let me take your hand.I am running away from danger;I am flying before I fall;I am going because with heart and soulI love you--that is all.There, now you are white with anger;I knew it would be so.You should not question a man too closeWhen he tells you he must go.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- amuse v. t.
- To occupy or engage the attention of; to lose in deep thought; to absorb; also, to distract; to bewilder. [F. amuser to make stay, to detain, to amuse, ad) + OF. muser. See Muse, v.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Answered is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Answered, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/answered.html, id L22149.
Form and metre
Answered is 36 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-B-B going · rightA · me · nightA · you · goB · battlefield · foeB
- 2 -A-A-B-B-C-C-D-D cruel · kindA · that · findA · me · guestB · please · bestB · going · abroadC · upon · fraudC · plato · doubtD · know · aboutD
- 3 -A-A-B-B-C-C strangely · understandA · eyes · handA · danger · fallB · soul · allB · anger · soC · close · goC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Good-bye--yes, I am going. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Sudden? Well, you are right; | 6 | /˘···· |
| But a startling truth came home to me | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| With sudden force last night. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| What is it? Shall I tell you? | 7 | ······· |
| Nay, that is why I go. | 6 | ······ |
| I am running away from the battlefield | 11 | ··/˘˘/··/˘· |
| Turning my back on the foe. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Riddles? You think me cruel! | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Have you not been most kind? | 6 | ······ |
| Why, when you question me like that, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What answer can I find? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| You fear you failed to amuse me, | 9 | ····˘·˘/· |
| Your husband's friend and guest, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Whom he bade you entertain and please-- | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Well, you have done your best. | 6 | ······ |
| Then why am I going? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| A friend of mine abroad, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Whose theories I have been acting upon, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| Has proven himself a fraud. | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| You have heard me quote from Plato | 8 | ······/˘ |
| A thousand times no doubt; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Well, I have discovered he did not know | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| What he was talking about. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| You think I am speaking strangely? | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| You cannot understand? | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Well, let me look down into your eyes, | 9 | ········· |
| And let me take your hand. | 6 | ······ |
| I am running away from danger; | 9 | ··/˘˘/·/˘ |
| I am flying before I fall; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| I am going because with heart and soul | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| I love you--that is all. | 6 | ······ |
| There, now you are white with anger; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I knew it would be so. | 6 | ······ |
| You should not question a man too close | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| When he tells you he must go. | 7 | ······· |
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.