Rattlesnake Mountain Fable II
August sauntered down the mountain-side,Dropping mottled, turbid wraiths of decay.The air was like an old priestDisrobing without embarrassmentBefore the dark and candid gaze of night.But these things brought no pauseTo the saucily determined squirrel.His eyes were hungrily upturnedTo where the stars hung--icily clustered nutsDotting trees of solitude.He saw the stars just over the horizon,And they seemed to growOn trees that he could reach.So he scampered on, from branch to branch,Wondering why the fairy nut-treesRan away from him.But, looking down, he spiedA softly wild cheeked mountain pool,And there a handful of fairy nutsBit into the indigo cupping them.With a squeal of weary happinessThe squirrel plunged into the mountain pool,And as he drowned within its soundless heartThe fairy nuts were jigging over him,Like the unheard stirring of a poem.
Words in this poem
- saucily adv.
- In a saucy manner; impudently; with impertinent boldness.
- hungrily adv.
- In a hungry manner; voraciously. [From Hunger.]
- cheeked a.
- Having a cheek; -- used in composition.
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- squeal v. i.
- To cry with a sharp, shrill, prolonged sound, as certain animals do, indicating want, displeasure, or pain. [Of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. sqväla, Norw. skvella. Cf. Squeak, Squall.]
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- jigging n.
- The act or using a jig; the act of separating ore with a jigger, or wire-bottomed sieve, which is moved up and down in water.
- unheard a.
- Not heard; not perceived by the ear; as, words unheard by those present.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rattlesnake Mountain Fable II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Advice: A Book of Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #60252; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Maxwell Bodenheim, Rattlesnake Mountain Fable II, in Advice: A Book of Poems (1920), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60252, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bodenheim-advice/rattlesnake-mountain-fable-ii.html, id L23374.
Form and metre
Rattlesnake Mountain Fable II is 25 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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 A-------B------CADB--D-CC sideA · decay · priest · embarrassment · night · pause · squirrel · upturned · nutsB · solitude · horizon · grow · reach · branch · trees · himC · spiedA · poolD · nutsB · them · happiness · poolD · heart · himC · poemC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| August sauntered down the mountain-side, | 9 | /˘/˘··/˘· |
| Dropping mottled, turbid wraiths of decay. | 10 | /˘/˘/˘··˘/ |
| The air was like an old priest | 7 | ······· |
| Disrobing without embarrassment | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| Before the dark and candid gaze of night. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But these things brought no pause | 6 | ······ |
| To the saucily determined squirrel. | 10 | ··/˘˘˘/˘/˘ |
| His eyes were hungrily upturned | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| To where the stars hung--icily clustered nuts | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Dotting trees of solitude. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| He saw the stars just over the horizon, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| And they seemed to grow | 5 | ····· |
| On trees that he could reach. | 6 | ······ |
| So he scampered on, from branch to branch, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Wondering why the fairy nut-trees | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Ran away from him. | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| But, looking down, he spied | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A softly wild cheeked mountain pool, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And there a handful of fairy nuts | 9 | ···/··/˘· |
| Bit into the indigo cupping them. | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| With a squeal of weary happiness | 9 | ····/˘/˘˘ |
| The squirrel plunged into the mountain pool, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And as he drowned within its soundless heart | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The fairy nuts were jigging over him, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Like the unheard stirring of a poem. | 9 | ··˘//˘··/ |
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.