Unfortunate
Heart, you are restless as a paper scrapThat's tossed down dusty pavements by the wind;Saying, "She is most wise, patient and kind.Between the small hands folded in her lapSurely a shamed head may bow down at length,And find forgiveness where the shadows stirAbout her lips, and wisdom in her strength,Peace in her peace. Come to her, come to her!"...
She will not care. She'll smile to see me come,So that I think all Heaven in flower to fold me.She'll give me all I ask, kiss me and hold me,And open wide upon that holy airThe gates of peace, and take my tiredness home,Kinder than God. But, heart, she will not care.
Words in this poem
- scrap n.
- Something scraped off; hence, a small piece; a bit; a fragment; a detached, incomplete portion. [OE. scrappe, fr. Icel. skrap trifle, cracking. See Scrape, v. t.]
- tiredness n.
- The state of being tired, or weary.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Unfortunate is in the public domain. This text is taken from 1914, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #33902; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rupert Brooke, Unfortunate, in 1914 and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #33902, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/brooke-1914/unfortunate.html, id L04747.
Form and metre
Unfortunate is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBACDCD scrapA · windB · kindB · lapA · lengthC · stirD · strengthC · herD
- 2 ABBCAC comeA · meB · meB · airC · homeA · careC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heart, you are restless as a paper scrap | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That's tossed down dusty pavements by the wind; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Saying, "She is most wise, patient and kind. | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| Between the small hands folded in her lap | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Surely a shamed head may bow down at length, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And find forgiveness where the shadows stir | 10 | ··˘/˘··/·· |
| About her lips, and wisdom in her strength, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Peace in her peace. Come to her, come to her!"... | 10 | ·········· |
| She will not care. She'll smile to see me come, | 10 | ·········· |
| So that I think all Heaven in flower to fold me. | 11 | ·····/·/··· |
| She'll give me all I ask, kiss me and hold me, | 11 | ··········· |
| And open wide upon that holy air | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The gates of peace, and take my tiredness home, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Kinder than God. But, heart, she will not care. | 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.