Old Susan
When Susan's work was done she'd sit,With one fat guttering candle lit,And window opened wide to winThe sweet night air to enter in;There, with a thumb to keep her placeShe'd read, with stern and wrinkled face,Her mild eyes gliding very slowAcross the letters to and fro,While wagged the guttering candle flameIn the wind that through the window came.And sometimes in the silence sheWould mumble a sentence audibly,Or shake her head as if to say,'You silly souls, to act this way!'And never a sound from night I'd hear,Unless some far-off cock crowed clear;Or her old shuffling thumb should turnAnother page; and rapt and stern,Through her great glasses bent on meShe'd glance into reality;And shake her round old silvery head,With--'You!--I thought you was in bed!'--Only to tilt her book again,And rooted in Romance remain.
Words in this poem
- mumble v. t.
- To speak with the lips partly closed, so as to render the sounds inarticulate and imperfect; to utter words in a grumbling indistinct manner, indicating discontent or displeasure; to mutter. [OE. momelen; cf. D. mompelen, mommelen, G. mummelen, Sw. mumla, Dan. mumle. Cf. Mum, a., Mumm, Mump, v.]
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Susan is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Listeners and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22569; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walter de la Mare, Old Susan, in The Listeners and Other Poems (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22569, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-listeners/old-susan.html, id L17064.
Form and metre
Old Susan is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 83% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEF-GGHHIIF-JJKK sitA · litA · winB · inB · placeC · faceC · slowD · froD · flameE · cameE · sheF · audibly · sayG · wayG · hearH · clearH · turnI · sternI · meF · reality · headJ · bedJ · againK · remainK
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When Susan's work was done she'd sit, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With one fat guttering candle lit, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And window opened wide to win | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The sweet night air to enter in; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There, with a thumb to keep her place | 8 | ········ |
| She'd read, with stern and wrinkled face, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her mild eyes gliding very slow | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Across the letters to and fro, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| While wagged the guttering candle flame | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In the wind that through the window came. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And sometimes in the silence she | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Would mumble a sentence audibly, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Or shake her head as if to say, | 8 | ········ |
| 'You silly souls, to act this way!' | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And never a sound from night I'd hear, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Unless some far-off cock crowed clear; | 8 | ········ |
| Or her old shuffling thumb should turn | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Another page; and rapt and stern, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Through her great glasses bent on me | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She'd glance into reality; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And shake her round old silvery head, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With--'You!--I thought you was in bed!'-- | 8 | ········ |
| Only to tilt her book again, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| And rooted in Romance remain. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
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.