Beyond
It seemeth such a little way to meAcross to that strange country--the Beyond;And yet, not strange, for it has grown to beThe home of those of whom I am so fond,They make it seem familiar and most dear,As journeying friends bring distant regions near.
So close it lies that when my sight is clearI think I almost see the gleaming strand.I know I feel those who have gone from hereCome near enough sometimes to touch my hand.I often think, but for our veiled eyes,We should find Heaven right round about us lies.
I cannot make it seem a day to dread,When from this dear earth I shall journey outTo that still dearer country of the dead,And join the lost ones, so long dreamed about.I love this world, yet shall I love to goAnd meet the friends who wait for me, I know.
I never stand above a bier and seeThe seal of death set on some well-loved faceBut that I think, "One more to welcome meWhen I shall cross the intervening spaceBetween this land and that one 'over there';One more to make the strange Beyond seem fair."
And so for me there is no sting to death,And so the grave has lost its victory.It is but crossing--with a bated breathAnd white, set face--a little strip of seaTo find the loved ones waiting on the shore,More beautiful, more precious than before.
Words in this poem
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- 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,]
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
- bated a.
- Reduced; lowered; restrained; as, to speak with bated breath.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Beyond 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, Beyond, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/beyond.html, id L22197.
Form and metre
Beyond is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABABCC meA · beyondB · beA · fondB · dearC · nearC
- 2 ABABCC clearA · strandB · hereA · handB · eyesC · liesC
- 3 ABABCC dreadA · outB · deadA · aboutB · goC · knowC
- 4 ABABCC seeA · faceB · meA · spaceB · thereC · fairC
- 5 A-A-BB deathA · victory · breathA · sea · shoreB · beforeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It seemeth such a little way to me | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Across to that strange country--the Beyond; | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| And yet, not strange, for it has grown to be | 10 | ·········· |
| The home of those of whom I am so fond, | 10 | ·········· |
| They make it seem familiar and most dear, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| As journeying friends bring distant regions near. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| So close it lies that when my sight is clear | 10 | ·········· |
| I think I almost see the gleaming strand. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| I know I feel those who have gone from here | 10 | ·········· |
| Come near enough sometimes to touch my hand. | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| I often think, but for our veiled eyes, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| We should find Heaven right round about us lies. | 10 | ···/······ |
| I cannot make it seem a day to dread, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| When from this dear earth I shall journey out | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To that still dearer country of the dead, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And join the lost ones, so long dreamed about. | 10 | ·········· |
| I love this world, yet shall I love to go | 10 | ·········· |
| And meet the friends who wait for me, I know. | 10 | ·········· |
| I never stand above a bier and see | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The seal of death set on some well-loved face | 10 | ·········· |
| But that I think, "One more to welcome me | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When I shall cross the intervening space | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Between this land and that one 'over there'; | 10 | ·········· |
| One more to make the strange Beyond seem fair." | 10 | ·········· |
| And so for me there is no sting to death, | 10 | ·········· |
| And so the grave has lost its victory. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| It is but crossing--with a bated breath | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And white, set face--a little strip of sea | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To find the loved ones waiting on the shore, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| More beautiful, more precious than before. | 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.