Poverty Row
Brave old neighbours in Poverty Row,Why should we grudge to dwell with you?Pinch of poverty well ye know--Doubtful dinner and clouted shoe.Grinned the wolf at your doors, and yetYou sang your songs and you said your say.Lashed to labour by devil Debt,All were manful, and some were gay.
What, old Chaucer! a royal jestOnce you made in your laughing verse:“No more goldfinch-song in the nest--Autumn nest of the empty purse!”Master Spenser, your looks are spare;Princes’ favours, how fleet they be!Thinking that yours was the selfsame fare,Crust or crumb shall be sweet to me.
Worshipful Shakespeare of Stratford town,Prosperous-portly in doublet red,What of the days when you first came downTo London city to earn your bread?What of the lodging where Juliet’s faceStartled your dream with its southern glow,Flooding with splendour the sordid place?That was a garret in Poverty Row!
Many a worthy has here, I ween,Made brief sojourn or long abode:Johnson, dining behind the screen;Goldsmith, vagrant along the road;Keats, ah, pitiful! poor and ill,Harassed and hurt, in his short spring day;Best Sir Walter, with flagging quillDigging the mountain of debt away.
Needy comrade, whose evil star,Pallid-frowning, decrees you wrong,Greatly neighboured, in truth, we are;Hold your heart up and sing your song!Lift your eyes to the book-shelf where,Glorious-gilded, a shining show,Every man in his mansion fair,Dwell the princes of Poverty Row!
Words in this poem 18
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- manful a.
- Showing manliness, or manly spirit; hence, brave, courageous, resolute, noble.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- selfsame a.
- Precisely the same; the very same; identical. [Self, a. + same.]
- crumb n.
- A small fragment or piece; especially, a small piece of bread or other food, broken or cut off. [AS. cruma, akin to D. kruim, G. krume; cf. G. krauen to scratch, claw.]
- 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,]
- worshipful a.
- Entitled to worship, reverence, or high respect; claiming respect; worthy of honor; -- often used as a term of respect, sometimes ironically.
- flooding n.
- The filling or covering with water or other fluid; overflow; inundation; the filling anything to excess.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- sordid a.
- Filthy; foul; dirty. [L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See Swart, a.]
- garret n.
- A turret; a watchtower. [OE. garite, garette, watchtower, place of lookout, OF. garite, also meaning, a place of refuge, F. guérite a place of refuge, donjon, sentinel box, fr. OF. gari]
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- sojourn v. i.
- To dwell for a time; to dwell or live in a place as a temporary resident or as a stranger, not considering the place as a permanent habitation; to delay; to tarry. [OE. sojornen, sojournen, OF. sojorner, sejorner, F. séjourner, fr. L. sub under, about + diurnus belonging to the day. See Journal, Diurnal.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- walter v. i.
- To roll or wallow; to welter. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.] [See Welter.]
- flagging n.
- A pavement or sidewalk of flagstones; flagstones, collectively.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poverty Row is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, Poverty Row, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/poverty-row.html, id L22046.
Form and metre
Poverty Row is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is dactylic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in dactylic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCD rowA · youB · knowA · shoeB · yetC · sayD · debtC · gayD
- 2 ABABCDCD jestA · verseB · nestA · purseB · spareC · beD · fareC · meD
- 3 ABABCDCD townA · redB · downA · breadB · faceC · glowD · placeC · rowD
- 4 ABABCDCD weenA · abodeB · screenA · roadB · illC · dayD · quillC · awayD
- 5 ABABCDCD starA · wrongB · areA · songB · whereC · showD · fairC · rowD
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 dactylic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Brave old neighbours in Poverty Row, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Why should we grudge to dwell with you? | 8 | ········ |
| Pinch of poverty well ye know-- | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Doubtful dinner and clouted shoe. | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| Grinned the wolf at your doors, and yet | 8 | ········ |
| You sang your songs and you said your say. | 9 | ········· |
| Lashed to labour by devil Debt, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| All were manful, and some were gay. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| What, old Chaucer! a royal jest | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Once you made in your laughing verse: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| “No more goldfinch-song in the nest-- | 8 | ··/····· |
| Autumn nest of the empty purse!” | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Master Spenser, your looks are spare; | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Princes’ favours, how fleet they be! | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Thinking that yours was the selfsame fare, | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Crust or crumb shall be sweet to me. | 8 | ········ |
| Worshipful Shakespeare of Stratford town, | 8 | /˘/··/˘· |
| Prosperous-portly in doublet red, | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| What of the days when you first came down | 9 | ········· |
| To London city to earn your bread? | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| What of the lodging where Juliet’s face | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| Startled your dream with its southern glow, | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Flooding with splendour the sordid place? | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| That was a garret in Poverty Row! | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Many a worthy has here, I ween, | 8 | /·/˘···· |
| Made brief sojourn or long abode: | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| Johnson, dining behind the screen; | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Goldsmith, vagrant along the road; | 8 | /·/˘˘/·· |
| Keats, ah, pitiful! poor and ill, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Harassed and hurt, in his short spring day; | 9 | ˘/······· |
| Best Sir Walter, with flagging quill | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Digging the mountain of debt away. | 9 | /˘·/˘··˘/ |
| Needy comrade, whose evil star, | 8 | /˘/··/˘· |
| Pallid-frowning, decrees you wrong, | 8 | /˘/˘˘/·· |
| Greatly neighboured, in truth, we are; | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Hold your heart up and sing your song! | 8 | ········ |
| Lift your eyes to the book-shelf where, | 8 | ········ |
| Glorious-gilded, a shining show, | 8 | /˘/˘·/˘· |
| Every man in his mansion fair, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Dwell the princes of Poverty Row! | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
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