Grim
Beside the blaze of forty firesGiant Grim doth sit,Roasting a thick-woolled mountain sheepUpon an iron spit.Above him wheels the winter sky,Beneath him, fathoms deep,Lies hidden in the valley mistsA village fast asleep ---Save for one restive hungry dogThat, snuffing towards the height,Smells Grim's broiled supper-meat, and spiesHis watch-fire twinkling bright.
Words in this poem
- restive a.
- Unwilling to go on; obstinate in refusing to move forward; stubborn; drawing back. [OF. restif, F. rétif, fr. L. restare to stay back, withstand, resist. See Rest remainder, and cf. Restiff.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Grim is in the public domain. This text is taken from Peacock Pie, a Book of Rhymes, Project Gutenberg ebook #3753; 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, Grim, in Peacock Pie (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3753, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-peacock-pie/grim.html, id L12609.
Form and metre
Grim is 12 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -ABA-B-B-C-C fires · sitA · sheepB · spitA · sky · deepB · mists · asleepB · dog · heightC · spies · brightC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beside the blaze of forty fires | 8 | ˘/···/˘/ |
| Giant Grim doth sit, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Roasting a thick-woolled mountain sheep | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Upon an iron spit. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Above him wheels the winter sky, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath him, fathoms deep, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Lies hidden in the valley mists | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A village fast asleep --- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Save for one restive hungry dog | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That, snuffing towards the height, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Smells Grim's broiled supper-meat, and spies | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His watch-fire twinkling bright. | 6 | ··//˘· |
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.