Emblems of Conduct
By a peninsula the wanderer sat and sketchedThe uneven valley graves. While the apostle gaveAlms to the meek the volcano burstWith sulphur and aureate rocks ...For joy rides in stupendous coveringsLuring the living into spiritual gates.
Orators follow the universeAnd radio the complete laws to the people.The apostle conveys thought through discipline.Bowls and cups fill historians with adorations,--Dull lips commemorating spiritual gates.
The wanderer later chose this spot of restWhere marble clouds support the seaAnd where was finally borne a chosen hero.By that time summer and smoke were past.Dolphins still played, arching the horizons,But only to build memories of spiritual gates.
Words in this poem
- aureate a.
- Golden; gilded. Skelton. [L. aureatus, fr. aureus golden, fr. aurum gold.]
- stupendous a.
- Astonishing; wonderful; amazing; especially, astonishing in magnitude or elevation; as, a stupendous pile. [L. stupendus astonishing, p. future pass. of stupere to be astonished at. Cf. Stupid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Emblems of Conduct is in the public domain. This text is taken from White buildings, Project Gutenberg ebook #77837; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hart Crane, Emblems of Conduct, in White Buildings (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #77837, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crane-hart-white-buildings/emblems-of-conduct.html, id L02592.
Form and metre
Emblems of Conduct is 17 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 81% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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.
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| By a peninsula the wanderer sat and sketched | 11 | ··˘/˘·/˘··· |
| The uneven valley graves. While the apostle gave | 13 | ·˘/˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| Alms to the meek the volcano burst | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| With sulphur and aureate rocks ... | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| For joy rides in stupendous coverings | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Luring the living into spiritual gates. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Orators follow the universe | 9 | /˘˘/˘·/˘· |
| And radio the complete laws to the people. | 12 | ·/˘··˘/···/˘ |
| The apostle conveys thought through discipline. | 11 | ·˘/˘˘/··/˘˘ |
| Bowls and cups fill historians with adorations,-- | 12 | ····˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Dull lips commemorating spiritual gates. | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| The wanderer later chose this spot of rest | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Where marble clouds support the sea | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And where was finally borne a chosen hero. | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| By that time summer and smoke were past. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Dolphins still played, arching the horizons, | 10 | /˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| But only to build memories of spiritual gates. | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘· |
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.