The Town of Dae
Swains and maidens, young and old,You to me this tale have told.
Where the squalid town of DaeIrks the comfortable sea,Spreading webs to gather fish,As for wealth we set a wish,Dwelt a king by right divine,Sprung from Adam's royal line,Town of Dae by the sea,Divers kinds of kings there be.
Name nor fame had Picklepip:Ne'er a soldier nor a shipBore his banners in the sun;Naught knew he of kingly sport,And he held his royal courtUnder an inverted tun.Love and roses, ages through,Bloom where cot and trellis stand;Never yet these blossoms grew--Never yet was room for two--In a cask upon the strand.
So it happened, as it ought,That his simple schemes he wroughtThrough the lagging summer's dayIn a solitary way.So it happened, as was best,That he took his nightly restWith no dreadful incubusThis way eyed and that way tressed,Featured thus, and thus, and thus,Lying lead-like on a breastBy cares of State enough oppressed.Yet in dreams his fancies rudeClaimed a lordly latitude.Town of Dae by the sea,Dreamers mate above their stateAnd waken back to their degree.
Once to cask himself awayHe prepared at close of day.As he tugged with swelling throatAt a most unkingly coat--Not to get it off, but on,For the serving sun was gone--Passed a silk-appareled spriteToward her castle on the height,Seized and set the garment right.Turned the startled Picklepip--Splendid crimson cheek and lip!Turned again to sneak away,
But she bade the villain stay,Bade him thank her, which he didWith a speech that slipped and slid,Sprawled and stumbled in its gaitAs a dancer tries to skate.Town of Dae by the sea,In the face of silk and laceRags too bold should never be.
Lady Minnow cocked her head:"Mister Picklepip," she said,"Do you ever think to wed?"Town of Dae by the sea,No fair lady ever made aWicked speech like that to me!
Wretched little PicklepipSaid he hadn't any ship,Any flocks at his command,Nor to feed them any land;Said he never in his lifeOwned a mine to keep a wife.But the guilty stammer soThat his meaning wouldn't flow;So he thought his aim to reachBy some figurative speech:Said his Fate had been unkindHad pursued him from behind(How the mischief could it else?)
Came upon him unaware,Caught him by the collar--thereGushed the little lady's gleeLike a gush of golden bells:"Picklepip, why, that is me!"Town of Dae by the sea,Grammar's for great scholars--sheLoved the summer and the lea.
Stupid little PicklepipAllowed the subtle hint to slip--Maundered on about the shipThat he did not chance to own;Told this grievance o'er and o'er,Knowing that she knew before;Told her how he dwelt alone.Lady Minnow, for reply,Cut him off with "So do I!"But she reddened at the fib;Servitors had she, ad lib.Town of Dae by the sea,In her youth who speaks no truthNe'er shall young and honest be.
Witless little PicklepipManned again his mental shipAnd veered her with a sudden shift.Painted to the lady's thoughtHow he wrestled and he wrought
Stoutly with the swimming driftBy the kindly river broughtFrom the mountain to the sea,Fuel for the town of Dae.Tedious tale for lady's ear:From her castle on the height,She had watched her water-knightThrough the seasons of a year,Challenge more than met his viewAnd conquer better than he knew.Now she shook her pretty pateAnd stamped her foot--'t was growing late:"Mister Picklepip, when IDrifting seaward pass you by;When the waves my forehead kissAnd my tresses float above--Dead and drowned for lack of love--You'll be sorry, sir, for this!"And the silly creature cried--Feared, perchance, the rising tide.Town of Dae by the sea,Madam Adam, when she had 'em,May have been as bad as she.
Fiat lux! Love's luminationFell in floods of revelation!Blinded brain by world aglare,Sense of pulses in the air,
Sense of swooning and the beatingOf a voice somewhere repeatingSomething indistinctly heard!And the soul of PicklepipSprang upon his trembling lip,But he spake no further wordOf the wealth he did not own;In that moment had outgrownShip and mine and flock and land--Even his cask upon the strand.Dropped a stricken star to earth,Type of wealth and worldly worth.Clomb the moon into the sky,Type of love's immensity!Shaking silver seemed the sea,Throne of God the town of Dae!Town of Dae by the sea,From above there cometh love,Blessing all good souls that be.
Words in this poem 28
- squalid a.
- Dirty through neglect; foul; filthy; extremely dirty. [L. squalidus, fr. squalere to be foul or filthy.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- divers a.
- Different in kind or species; diverse. [F. divers, L. diversus turned in different directions, different, p. p. of divertere. See Divert, and cf. Diverse.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- lagging n.
- The clothing (esp., an outer, wooden covering), as of a steam cylinder, applied to prevent the radiation of heat; a covering of lags; -- called also deading and cleading.
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- incubus n.
- A demon; a fiend; a lascivious spirit, supposed to have sexual intercourse with women by night. Tylor. [L., the nightmare. Cf. Incubate.]
- tressed a.
- Having tresses.
- featured a.
- Shaped; fashioned.
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- mister n.
- A trade, art, or occupation. [OF. mistier trade, office, ministry, need, F. métier trade, fr. L. ministerium service, office, ministry. See Ministry, Mystery trade.]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- unaware a.
- Not aware; not noticing; giving no heed; thoughtless; inattentive.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- grievance n.
- A cause of uneasiness and complaint; a wrong done and suffered; that which gives ground for remonstrance or resistance, as arising from injustice, tyranny, etc.; injury. [OF. grcvance. See Grieve, v. t.]
- 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,]
- witless a.
- Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
- stoutly adv.
- In a stout manner; lustily; boldly; obstinately; as, he stoutly defended himself.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- pate n.
- A pie. See Patty. [F. pâté.]
- seaward a.
- Directed or situated toward the sea. Donne.
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- immensity n.
- The state or quality of being immense; inlimited or immeasurable extension; infinity; vastness in extent or bulk; greatness. [L. immensitas: cf. F. immensité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Town of Dae is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, The Town of Dae, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/the-town-of-dae.html, id L27987.
Form and metre
The Town of Dae is 149 lines in 14 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 AA oldA · toldA
- 2 -ABBCCAA dae · seaA · fishB · wishB · divineC · lineC · seaA · beA
- 3 ---AA-BCBBC picklepip · ship · sun · sportA · courtA · tun · throughB · standC · grewB · twoB · strandC
- 4 AABBCC---CCDDE-E oughtA · wroughtA · dayB · wayB · bestC · restC · incubus · tressed · thus · breastC · oppressedC · rudeD · latitudeD · seaE · state · degreeE
- 5 AABBCCDDD--A awayA · dayA · throatB · coatB · onC · goneC · spriteD · heightD · rightD · picklepip · lip · awayA
- 6 -AABBC-C stay · didA · slidA · gaitB · skateB · seaC · lace · beC
- 7 AAAB-B headA · saidA · wedA · seaB · a · meB
- 8 AABBCCDDEEFF- picklepipA · shipA · commandB · landB · lifeC · wifeC · soD · flowD · reachE · speechE · unkindF · behindF · else
- 9 AAB-BBBB unawareA · thereA · gleeB · bells · meB · seaB · sheB · leaB
- 10 -AAB--BCC--D-D picklepip · slipA · shipA · ownB · o'er · before · aloneB · replyC · iC · fib · lib · seaD · truth · beD
- 11 ---AA picklepip · ship · shift · thoughtA · wroughtA
- 12 --A-BCCBDDEEFFGHHGIIA-A drift · brought · seaA · dae · earB · heightC · knightC · yearB · viewD · knewD · pateE · lateE · iF · byF · kissG · aboveH · loveH · thisG · criedI · tideI · seaA · em · sheA
- 13 AABB luminationA · revelationA · aglareB · airB
- 14 AAB--BCCDDEEF-F-F-F beatingA · repeatingA · heardB · picklepip · lip · wordB · ownC · outgrownC · landD · strandD · earthE · worthE · skyF · immensity · seaF · dae · seaF · love · beF
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Swains and maidens, young and old, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| You to me this tale have told. | 7 | ······· |
| Where the squalid town of Dae | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Irks the comfortable sea, | 7 | ··/˘˘˘· |
| Spreading webs to gather fish, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| As for wealth we set a wish, | 7 | ······· |
| Dwelt a king by right divine, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Sprung from Adam's royal line, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| Divers kinds of kings there be. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Name nor fame had Picklepip: | 7 | ······· |
| Ne'er a soldier nor a ship | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Bore his banners in the sun; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Naught knew he of kingly sport, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And he held his royal court | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Under an inverted tun. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Love and roses, ages through, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Bloom where cot and trellis stand; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Never yet these blossoms grew-- | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Never yet was room for two-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| In a cask upon the strand. | 7 | ······· |
| So it happened, as it ought, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That his simple schemes he wrought | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Through the lagging summer's day | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| In a solitary way. | 7 | ··/˘·˘· |
| So it happened, as was best, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That he took his nightly rest | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With no dreadful incubus | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| This way eyed and that way tressed, | 7 | ······· |
| Featured thus, and thus, and thus, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Lying lead-like on a breast | 7 | /˘····· |
| By cares of State enough oppressed. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Yet in dreams his fancies rude | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Claimed a lordly latitude. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| Dreamers mate above their state | 7 | /˘····· |
| And waken back to their degree. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Once to cask himself away | 7 | ···˘/˘/ |
| He prepared at close of day. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| As he tugged with swelling throat | 7 | ····/˘· |
| At a most unkingly coat-- | 7 | ······· |
| Not to get it off, but on, | 7 | ······· |
| For the serving sun was gone-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Passed a silk-appareled sprite | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Toward her castle on the height, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Seized and set the garment right. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Turned the startled Picklepip-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Splendid crimson cheek and lip! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Turned again to sneak away, | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| But she bade the villain stay, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Bade him thank her, which he did | 7 | ······· |
| With a speech that slipped and slid, | 7 | ······· |
| Sprawled and stumbled in its gait | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As a dancer tries to skate. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| In the face of silk and lace | 7 | ······· |
| Rags too bold should never be. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lady Minnow cocked her head: | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| "Mister Picklepip," she said, | 7 | /˘····· |
| "Do you ever think to wed?" | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| No fair lady ever made a | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| Wicked speech like that to me! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Wretched little Picklepip | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Said he hadn't any ship, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Any flocks at his command, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Nor to feed them any land; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Said he never in his life | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Owned a mine to keep a wife. | 7 | ······· |
| But the guilty stammer so | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| That his meaning wouldn't flow; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| So he thought his aim to reach | 7 | ······· |
| By some figurative speech: | 7 | ··/˘˘˘· |
| Said his Fate had been unkind | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Had pursued him from behind | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| (How the mischief could it else?) | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Came upon him unaware, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Caught him by the collar--there | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Gushed the little lady's glee | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Like a gush of golden bells: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Picklepip, why, that is me!" | 7 | ······· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| Grammar's for great scholars--she | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Loved the summer and the lea. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Stupid little Picklepip | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Allowed the subtle hint to slip-- | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Maundered on about the ship | 7 | ······· |
| That he did not chance to own; | 7 | ······· |
| Told this grievance o'er and o'er, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Knowing that she knew before; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Told her how he dwelt alone. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Lady Minnow, for reply, | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| Cut him off with "So do I!" | 7 | ······· |
| But she reddened at the fib; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Servitors had she, ad lib. | 7 | ······· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| In her youth who speaks no truth | 7 | ······· |
| Ne'er shall young and honest be. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Witless little Picklepip | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Manned again his mental ship | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| And veered her with a sudden shift. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Painted to the lady's thought | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| How he wrestled and he wrought | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Stoutly with the swimming drift | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| By the kindly river brought | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| From the mountain to the sea, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fuel for the town of Dae. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Tedious tale for lady's ear: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| From her castle on the height, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| She had watched her water-knight | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Through the seasons of a year, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Challenge more than met his view | 7 | /˘····· |
| And conquer better than he knew. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Now she shook her pretty pate | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And stamped her foot--'t was growing late: | 8 | ······/· |
| "Mister Picklepip, when I | 7 | /˘····· |
| Drifting seaward pass you by; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| When the waves my forehead kiss | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And my tresses float above-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Dead and drowned for lack of love-- | 7 | ······· |
| You'll be sorry, sir, for this!" | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the silly creature cried-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Feared, perchance, the rising tide. | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| Madam Adam, when she had 'em, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| May have been as bad as she. | 7 | ······· |
| Fiat lux! Love's lumination | 8 | /˘······ |
| Fell in floods of revelation! | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Blinded brain by world aglare, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Sense of pulses in the air, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Sense of swooning and the beating | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Of a voice somewhere repeating | 8 | ···/·˘/˘ |
| Something indistinctly heard! | 7 | /˘····· |
| And the soul of Picklepip | 7 | ······· |
| Sprang upon his trembling lip, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But he spake no further word | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of the wealth he did not own; | 7 | ······· |
| In that moment had outgrown | 7 | ··/˘··/ |
| Ship and mine and flock and land-- | 7 | ······· |
| Even his cask upon the strand. | 7 | /······ |
| Dropped a stricken star to earth, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Type of wealth and worldly worth. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Clomb the moon into the sky, | 7 | ······· |
| Type of love's immensity! | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Shaking silver seemed the sea, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Throne of God the town of Dae! | 7 | ······· |
| Town of Dae by the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| From above there cometh love, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Blessing all good souls that be. | 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.