Mid-American Chants
Anderson's 1918 book of free-verse chants of the Midwest, published the year before Winesburg, Ohio.
Measured across the book
Across its 624 lines, 91% of stressed syllables fall on the beat (95% interval 90% to 92%). Alliteration runs at 0.98 times what shuffling the words would give (0.34 observed against 0.34 expected). 26% of the lines have a feminine ending.
Baselines and intervals are described in the methods.
Contents
The Cornfields8 linesChicago8 linesSong of Industrial America26 linesSong of Cedric the Silent11 linesSong of the Break of Day11 linesSong of the Beginning of Courage11 linesRevolt4 linesA Lullaby5 linesSong of Theodore16 linesManhattan5 linesSpring Songiambic pentameter · 16 linesIndustrialismiambic pentameter · 40 linesSalvoiambic pentameter · 22 linesThe Plantingiambic pentameter · 12 linesSong of the Middle Worldiambic pentameter · 25 linesThe Stranger6 linesSong of the Love of Womeniambic pentameter · 11 linesSong of Stephen the Westerner18 linesSong to the Lost Onesiambic pentameter · 11 linesForgotten Songiambic pentameter · 39 linesAmerican Spring Songiambic pentameter · 31 linesThe Beam3 linesSong to New Songiambic pentameter · 19 linesSong for Dark Nightsiambic pentameter · 20 linesThe Loveriambic pentameter · 16 linesNight Whispersiambic heptameter · 6 linesSong to the Sapiambic pentameter · 19 linesRhythmsiambic dimeter · 17 linesUnborniambic pentameter · 5 linesNightiambic pentameter · 8 linesA Visitiambic pentameter · 4 linesChant to Dawn in a Factory Towniambic dimeter · 44 linesSong of the Mating Timeiambic pentameter · 50 linesSong for Lonely Roadsiambic pentameter · 23 linesSong Long After6 linesSong of the Soul of Chicago8 linesSong of the Drunken Business Maniambic pentameter · 17 linesSong to the Laughiambic pentameter · 23 linesHosanna6 linesWariambic pentameter · 19 linesMid-American Prayer36 linesWe Enter iniambic pentameter · 24 linesDirge of War12 linesLittle Song to a Western Statesmaniambic pentameter · 13 linesSong of the Bugtrochaic hexameter · 11 linesAssuranceiambic pentameter · 26 linesReminiscent Songtrochaic tetrameter · 21 linesEvening Songiambic pentameter · 12 linesSong of the Singeriambic pentameter · 20 lines
About this text
Public domain. Text from Mid-American Chants (New York: John Lane Company; London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1918), Internet Archive. Free to read, print, copy and reuse.