Lines to a Don
Remote and ineffectual DonThat dared attack my Chesterton,With that poor weapon, half-impelled,Unlearnt, unsteady, hardly held,Unworthy for a tilt with men--Your quavering and corroded pen;Don poor at Bed and worse at Table,Don pinched, Don starved, Don miserable;Don stuttering, Don with roving eyes,Don nervous, Don of crudities;Don clerical, Don ordinary,Don self-absorbed and solitary;Don here-and-there, Don epileptic;Don puffed and empty, Don dyspeptic;Don middle-class, Don sycophantic,Don dull, Don brutish, Don pedantic;Don hypocritical, Don bad,Don furtive, Don three-quarters mad;Don (since a man must make an end),Don that shall never be my friend.
Don different from those regal Dons!With hearts of gold and lungs of bronze,Who shout and bang and roar and bawlThe Absolute across the hall,Or sail in amply bellowing gownEnormous through the Sacred Town,Bearing from College to their homesDeep cargoes of gigantic tomes;Dons admirable! Dons of Might!Uprising on my inward sightCompact of ancient tales, and portAnd sleep--and learning of a sort.Dons English, worthy of the land;Dons rooted; Dons that understand.Good Dons perpetual that remainA landmark, walling in the plain--The horizon of my memories--Like large and comfortable trees.
Don very much apart from these,Thou scapegoat Don, thou Don devoted,Don to thine own damnation quoted,Perplexed to find thy trivial nameReared in my verse to lasting shame.Don dreadful, rasping Don and wearing,Repulsive Don--Don past all bearing.Don of the cold and doubtful breath,Don despicable, Don of death;Don nasty, skimpy, silent, level;Don evil; Don that serves the devil.Don ugly--that makes fifty lines.There is a Canon which confinesA Rhymed Octosyllabic CurseIf written in Iambic VerseTo fifty lines. I never cut;I far prefer to end it--butBelieve me I shall soon return.My fires are banked, but still they burnTo write some more about the DonThat dared attack my Chesterton.
Words in this poem 17
- stuttering n.
- The act of one who stutters; -- restricted by some physiologists to defective speech due to inability to form the proper sounds, the breathing being normal, as distinguished from stammering.
- epileptic a.
- Pertaining to, affected with, or of the nature of, epilepsy. [L. epilepticus, Gr. épileptique.]
- dyspeptic a.
- Pertaining to dyspepsia; having dyspepsia; as, a dyspeptic or dyspeptical symptom.
- sycophantic a.
- Of or pertaining to a sycophant; characteristic of a sycophant; meanly or obsequiously flattering; courting favor by mean adulation; parasitic.
- brutish a.
- Pertaining to, or resembling, a brute or brutes; of a cruel, gross, and stupid nature; coarse; unfeeling; unintelligent.
- furtive a.
- Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look. Prior. [L. furtivus, fr. furtum theft, fr. fur thief, akin to ferre to bear: cf. F. furtif. See Fertile.]
- 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,]
- bawl v. i.
- To cry out with a loud, full sound; to cry with vehemence, as in calling or exultation; to shout; to vociferate. [Icel. baula to low, bellow, as a cow; akin to Sw. böla; cf. AS bellan, G. bellen to bark, E. bellow, bull.]
- amply adv.
- In an ample manner.
- admirable a.
- Fitted to excite wonder; wonderful; marvelous. [L. admirabilis: cf. F. admirable.]
- uprising n.
- Act of rising; also, a steep place; an ascent.
- walling n.
- The act of making a wall or walls.
- scapegoat n.
- A goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people, after which he was suffered to escape into the wilderness. [Scape (for escape) + goat.]
- damnation n.
- The state of being damned; condemnation; openly expressed disapprobation. [F. damnation, L. damnatio, fr. damnare. See Damn.]
- trivial a.
- Found anywhere; common. [L. trivialis, properly, that is in, or belongs to, the crossroads or public streets; hence, that may be found everywhere, common, fr. trivium a place where thre]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- octosyllabic a.
- Consisting of or containing eight syllables. [L. octosyllabus. See Octo-, and Syllable.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines to a Don is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #60663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hilaire Belloc, Lines to a Don, in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/lines-to-a-don.html, id L21670.
Form and metre
Lines to a Don is 59 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCC----DDEEFFGGHH donA · chestertonA · impelledB · heldB · menC · penC · table · miserable · eyes · crudities · ordinaryD · solitaryD · epilepticE · dyspepticE · sycophanticF · pedanticF · badG · madG · endH · friendH
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII donsA · bronzeA · bawlB · hallB · gownC · townC · homesD · tomesD · mightE · sightE · portF · sortF · landG · understandG · remainH · plainH · memoriesI · treesI
- 3 -AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII-I these · devotedA · quotedA · nameB · shameB · wearingC · bearingC · breathD · deathD · levelE · devilE · linesF · confinesF · curseG · verseG · cutH · butH · returnI · burnI · don · chestertonI
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Remote and ineffectual Don | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| That dared attack my Chesterton, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| With that poor weapon, half-impelled, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Unlearnt, unsteady, hardly held, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Unworthy for a tilt with men-- | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Your quavering and corroded pen; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Don poor at Bed and worse at Table, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Don pinched, Don starved, Don miserable; | 9 | ·····/˘˘˘ |
| Don stuttering, Don with roving eyes, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Don nervous, Don of crudities; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Don clerical, Don ordinary, | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘ |
| Don self-absorbed and solitary; | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·˘ |
| Don here-and-there, Don epileptic; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Don puffed and empty, Don dyspeptic; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Don middle-class, Don sycophantic, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Don dull, Don brutish, Don pedantic; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Don hypocritical, Don bad, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Don furtive, Don three-quarters mad; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Don (since a man must make an end), | 8 | ········ |
| Don that shall never be my friend. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Don different from those regal Dons! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With hearts of gold and lungs of bronze, | 8 | ········ |
| Who shout and bang and roar and bawl | 8 | ········ |
| The Absolute across the hall, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Or sail in amply bellowing gown | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Enormous through the Sacred Town, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Bearing from College to their homes | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Deep cargoes of gigantic tomes; | 8 | ·/··˘/˘· |
| Dons admirable! Dons of Might! | 8 | ·/˘˘˘··· |
| Uprising on my inward sight | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Compact of ancient tales, and port | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And sleep--and learning of a sort. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Dons English, worthy of the land; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Dons rooted; Dons that understand. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Good Dons perpetual that remain | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| A landmark, walling in the plain-- | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| The horizon of my memories-- | 9 | ·˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Like large and comfortable trees. | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| Don very much apart from these, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Thou scapegoat Don, thou Don devoted, | 9 | ·/····˘/˘ |
| Don to thine own damnation quoted, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Perplexed to find thy trivial name | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Reared in my verse to lasting shame. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Don dreadful, rasping Don and wearing, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Repulsive Don--Don past all bearing. | 9 | ˘/˘····/˘ |
| Don of the cold and doubtful breath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Don despicable, Don of death; | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| Don nasty, skimpy, silent, level; | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Don evil; Don that serves the devil. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Don ugly--that makes fifty lines. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| There is a Canon which confines | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A Rhymed Octosyllabic Curse | 8 | ········ |
| If written in Iambic Verse | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| To fifty lines. I never cut; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I far prefer to end it--but | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Believe me I shall soon return. | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| My fires are banked, but still they burn | 8 | ·/······ |
| To write some more about the Don | 8 | ········ |
| That dared attack my Chesterton. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
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.