Shop
So, friend, your shop was all your house!Its front, astonishing the street,Invited view from man and mouseTo what diversity of treatBehind its glass--the single sheet!
What gimcracks, genuine Japanese:Gape-jaw and goggle-eye, the frog;Dragons, owls, monkeys, beetles, geese;Some crush-nosed human-hearted dog:Queer names, too, such a catalogue!
I thought, "And he who owns the wealthWhich blocks the window's vastitude,--Ah, could I peep at him by stealthBehind his ware, pass shop, intrudeOn house itself, what scenes were viewed!
"If wide and showy thus the shop,What must the habitation prove?The true house with no name a-top--The mansion, distant one remove,Once get him off his traffic-groove!
"Pictures he likes, or books perhaps;And as for buying most and best,Commend me to these City chaps!Or else he's social, takes his restOn Sundays, with a lord for guest.
"Some suburb-palace, parked aboutAnd gated grandly, built last year;The four-mile walk to keep off gout;Or big seat sold by bankrupt peer--But then he takes the rail, that's clear.
"Or, stop! I wager, taste selectsSome out o' the way, some all-unknownRetreat; the neighborhood suspectsLittle that he who rambles loneMakes Rothschild tremble on his throne!"
Nowise! Nor Mayfair residenceFit to receive and entertain--Nor Hampstead villa's kind defenseFrom noise and crowd, from dust and drain--Nor country-box was soul's domain!
Nowise! At back of all that spreadOf merchandise, woe's me, I findA hole i' the wall where, heels by head,The owner couched, his ware behind--In cupboard suited to his mind.
For why? He saw no use of lifeBut, while he drove a roaring trade,To chuckle, "Customers are rife!"To chafe, "So much hard cash outlaidYet zero in my profits made!
"This novelty costs pains, but--takes?Cumbers my counter! Stock no more!This article, no such great shakes,Fizzes like wildfire? UnderscoreThe cheap thing--thousands to the fore!"
'Twas lodging best to live most nigh(Cramp, coffinlike as crib might be)Receipt of Custom; ear and eyeWanted no outworld: "Hear and seeThe bustle in the shop!" quoth he
My fancy of a merchant-princeWas different. Through his wares we gropedOur darkling way to--not to minceThe matter--no black den where mopedThe master if we interloped!
Shop was shop only: household-stuff?What did he want with comforts there?"Walls, ceiling, floor, stay blank and rough,So goods on sale show rich and rare!'Sell and scud home' be shop's affair!"
What might he deal in? Gems, suppose!Since somehow business must be doneAt cost of trouble--see, he throwsYou choice of jewels, everyone,Good, better, best, star, moon, and sun!
Which lies within your power of purse?This ruby that would tip arightSolomon's scepter? Oh, your nurseWants simply coral, the delightOf teething baby--stuff to bite!
Howe'er your choice fell, straight you tookYour purchase, prompt your money rangOn counter--scarce the man forsookHis study of the "Times," just swangTill-ward his hand that stopped the clang--
Then off made buyer with a prize,Then seller to his "Times" returned;And so did day wear, wear, till eyesBrightened apace, for rest was earned;He locked door long ere candle burned.
And whither went he? Ask himself,Not me! To change of scene, I think.Once sold the ware and pursed the pelf,Chaffer was scarce his meat and drink,Nor all his music--money-chink.
Because a man has shop to mindIn time and place, since flesh must live,Needs spirit lack all life behind,All stray thoughts, fancies fugitive,All loves except what trade can give?
I want to know a butcher paints,A baker rhymes for his pursuit,Candlestick-maker much acquaintsHis soul with song, or, haply mute,Blows out his brains upon the flute!
But--shop each day and all day long!Friend, your good angel slept, your starSuffered eclipse, fate did you wrong!From where these sorts of treasures are,There should our hearts be--Christ, how far!
Words in this poem 31
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- vastitude n.
- Vastness; immense extent. [L. vastitudo.]
- stealth n.
- The act of stealing; theft. [OE. staple. See Steal, v. t.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- gated a.
- Having gates. Young.
- grandly adv.
- In a grand manner.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- nowise adv.
- Not in any manner or degree; in no way; noways. [For in no wise. See Wise, n.]
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- chuckle v. t.
- To call, as a hen her chickens; to cluck. [From lst Chuck.]
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- zero
- A cipher; nothing; naught. [F. zéro, from Ar. çafrun, çifrun, empty, a cipher. Cf. Cipher.]
- wildfire n.
- A composition of inflammable materials, which, kindled, is very hard to quench; Greek fire.
- underscore v. t.
- To draw a mark or line under; to underline. J. Tucker.
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- mince v. t.
- To cut into very small pieces; to chop fine; to hash; as, to mince meat. [AS. minsian to grow less, dwindle, fr. min small; akin to G. minder less, Goth. minniza less, mins less, adv., L. minor, adj. (cf. Minor); or more likely fr. F.]
- scud v. i.
- To move swiftly; especially, to move as if driven forward by something. [Dan. skyde to shoot, shove, push, akin to skud shot, gunshot, a shoot, young bough, and to E. shoot. sq. root159. See Shoot.]
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- everyone n.
- Everybody; -- commonly separated, every one. [OE. everychon.]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- teething n.
- The process of the first growth of teeth, or the phenomena attending their issue through the gums; dentition.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- pelf n.
- Money; riches; lucre; gain; -- generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten or worthless. It has no plural. [OE. pelfir booty, OF. pelfre, akin to pelfrer to plunder, and perh. to E. pillage. Cf. Pilfer.]
- chaffer n.
- Bargaining; merchandise. Holished. [OE. chaffare, cheapfare; AS. ceáp a bargain, price + faru a journey; hence, originally, a going to barain, to market. See Cheap, and Fare.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Shop is in the public domain. This text is taken from Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, Project Gutenberg ebook #28041; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Browning, Shop, in Selections from the Poems and Plays of Robert Browning (1864), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #28041, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/browning-selections/shop.html, id L25120.
Form and metre
Shop is 110 lines in 22 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABB, complete in 21 of its 22 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See 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 ABABB houseA · streetB · mouseA · treatB · sheetB
- 2 ---AA japanese · frog · geese · dogA · catalogueA
- 3 ABABB wealthA · vastitudeB · stealthA · intrudeB · viewedB
- 4 ABABB shopA · proveB · topA · removeB · grooveB
- 5 ABABB perhapsA · bestB · chapsA · restB · guestB
- 6 ABABB aboutA · yearB · goutA · peerB · clearB
- 7 ABABB selectsA · unknownB · suspectsA · loneB · throneB
- 8 ABABB residenceA · entertainB · defenseA · drainB · domainB
- 9 ABABB spreadA · findB · headA · behindB · mindB
- 10 ABABB lifeA · tradeB · rifeA · outlaidB · madeB
- 11 ABABB takesA · moreB · shakesA · underscoreB · foreB
- 12 ABABB nighA · beB · eyeA · seeB · heB
- 13 ABABB princeA · gropedB · minceA · mopedB · interlopedB
- 14 ABABB stuffA · thereB · roughA · rareB · affairB
- 15 ABABB supposeA · doneB · throwsA · everyoneB · sunB
- 16 ABABB purseA · arightB · nurseA · delightB · biteB
- 17 ABABB tookA · rangB · forsookA · swangB · clangB
- 18 ABABB prizeA · returnedB · eyesA · earnedB · burnedB
- 19 ABABB himselfA · thinkB · pelfA · drinkB · chinkB
- 20 ABABB mindA · liveB · behindA · fugitiveB · giveB
- 21 ABABB paintsA · pursuitB · acquaintsA · muteB · fluteB
- 22 ABABB longA · starB · wrongA · areB · farB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So, friend, your shop was all your house! | 8 | ········ |
| Its front, astonishing the street, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Invited view from man and mouse | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| To what diversity of treat | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Behind its glass--the single sheet! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What gimcracks, genuine Japanese: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Gape-jaw and goggle-eye, the frog; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Dragons, owls, monkeys, beetles, geese; | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Some crush-nosed human-hearted dog: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Queer names, too, such a catalogue! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I thought, "And he who owns the wealth | 8 | ········ |
| Which blocks the window's vastitude, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| --Ah, could I peep at him by stealth | 8 | ········ |
| Behind his ware, pass shop, intrude | 8 | ······˘/ |
| On house itself, what scenes were viewed! | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "If wide and showy thus the shop, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What must the habitation prove? | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The true house with no name a-top-- | 8 | ········ |
| The mansion, distant one remove, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Once get him off his traffic-groove! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Pictures he likes, or books perhaps; | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| And as for buying most and best, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Commend me to these City chaps! | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Or else he's social, takes his rest | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On Sundays, with a lord for guest. | 8 | ·/······ |
| "Some suburb-palace, parked about | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And gated grandly, built last year; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The four-mile walk to keep off gout; | 8 | ········ |
| Or big seat sold by bankrupt peer-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But then he takes the rail, that's clear. | 8 | ········ |
| "Or, stop! I wager, taste selects | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Some out o' the way, some all-unknown | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Retreat; the neighborhood suspects | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Little that he who rambles lone | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Makes Rothschild tremble on his throne!" | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| Nowise! Nor Mayfair residence | 8 | /˘·/·/˘˘ |
| Fit to receive and entertain-- | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Nor Hampstead villa's kind defense | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| From noise and crowd, from dust and drain-- | 8 | ········ |
| Nor country-box was soul's domain! | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Nowise! At back of all that spread | 8 | /˘······ |
| Of merchandise, woe's me, I find | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A hole i' the wall where, heels by head, | 9 | ········· |
| The owner couched, his ware behind | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| --In cupboard suited to his mind. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For why? He saw no use of life | 8 | ········ |
| But, while he drove a roaring trade, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To chuckle, "Customers are rife!" | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| To chafe, "So much hard cash outlaid | 8 | ········ |
| Yet zero in my profits made! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "This novelty costs pains, but--takes? | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Cumbers my counter! Stock no more! | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| This article, no such great shakes, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Fizzes like wildfire? Underscore | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| The cheap thing--thousands to the fore!" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Twas lodging best to live most nigh | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (Cramp, coffinlike as crib might be) | 8 | ········ |
| Receipt of Custom; ear and eye | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Wanted no outworld: "Hear and see | 8 | /˘······ |
| The bustle in the shop!" quoth he | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My fancy of a merchant-prince | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Was different. Through his wares we groped | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Our darkling way to--not to mince | 8 | //˘····· |
| The matter--no black den where moped | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The master if we interloped! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shop was shop only: household-stuff? | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| What did he want with comforts there? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Walls, ceiling, floor, stay blank and rough, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So goods on sale show rich and rare! | 8 | ········ |
| 'Sell and scud home' be shop's affair!" | 8 | ······˘/ |
| What might he deal in? Gems, suppose! | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Since somehow business must be done | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| At cost of trouble--see, he throws | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You choice of jewels, everyone, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Good, better, best, star, moon, and sun! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which lies within your power of purse? | 8 | ·····/·· |
| This ruby that would tip aright | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Solomon's scepter? Oh, your nurse | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Wants simply coral, the delight | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Of teething baby--stuff to bite! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Howe'er your choice fell, straight you took | 8 | ········ |
| Your purchase, prompt your money rang | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| On counter--scarce the man forsook | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| His study of the "Times," just swang | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Till-ward his hand that stopped the clang-- | 8 | ········ |
| Then off made buyer with a prize, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then seller to his "Times" returned; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And so did day wear, wear, till eyes | 8 | ········ |
| Brightened apace, for rest was earned; | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| He locked door long ere candle burned. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And whither went he? Ask himself, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Not me! To change of scene, I think. | 8 | ········ |
| Once sold the ware and pursed the pelf, | 8 | ········ |
| Chaffer was scarce his meat and drink, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Nor all his music--money-chink. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Because a man has shop to mind | 8 | ········ |
| In time and place, since flesh must live, | 8 | ········ |
| Needs spirit lack all life behind, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All stray thoughts, fancies fugitive, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| All loves except what trade can give? | 8 | ········ |
| I want to know a butcher paints, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A baker rhymes for his pursuit, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Candlestick-maker much acquaints | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| His soul with song, or, haply mute, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Blows out his brains upon the flute! | 8 | ········ |
| But--shop each day and all day long! | 8 | ········ |
| Friend, your good angel slept, your star | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Suffered eclipse, fate did you wrong! | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| From where these sorts of treasures are, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There should our hearts be--Christ, how far! | 8 | ··/····· |
On this poem
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.