Melmillo
Three and thirty birds there stoodIn an elder in a wood;Called Melmillo -- flew off three,Leaving thirty in the tree;Called Melmillo -- nine now gone,And the boughs held twenty-one;Called Melmillo -- and eighteenLeft but three to nod and preen;Called Melmillo -- three -- two -- oneNow of birds were feathers none.
Then stole Melmillo inTo that wood all dusk and green,And with lean long palms outspreadSoftly a strange dance did tread;Not a note of music sheHad for echoing company;All the birds were flown to restIn the hollow of her breast;In the wood -- thorn, elder, willow --Danced alone -- lone danced Melmillo.
Words in this poem
- preen n.
- A forked tool used by clothiers in dressing cloth. [AS. preón a clasp, bodkin; akin to D. priem punch, bodkin, awl, G. pfriem, Icel. prjonn a knitting needle, pin, Dan. preen a bodkin, punch.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- outspread v. t.
- To spread out; to expand; -- usually as a past part. or adj.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Melmillo 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, Melmillo, in Peacock Pie (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3753, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-peacock-pie/melmillo.html, id L12623.
Form and metre
Melmillo is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic 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 AABB-CDDCC stoodA · woodA · threeB · treeB · gone · oneC · eighteenD · preenD · oneC · noneC
- 2 AABB--CC-- inA · greenA · outspreadB · treadB · she · company · restC · breastC · willow · melmillo
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Three and thirty birds there stood | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In an elder in a wood; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Called Melmillo -- flew off three, | 7 | ······· |
| Leaving thirty in the tree; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Called Melmillo -- nine now gone, | 7 | ······· |
| And the boughs held twenty-one; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Called Melmillo -- and eighteen | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Left but three to nod and preen; | 7 | ······· |
| Called Melmillo -- three -- two -- one | 7 | ······· |
| Now of birds were feathers none. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Then stole Melmillo in | 6 | ······ |
| To that wood all dusk and green, | 7 | ······· |
| And with lean long palms outspread | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Softly a strange dance did tread; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Not a note of music she | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Had for echoing company; | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| All the birds were flown to rest | 7 | ······· |
| In the hollow of her breast; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In the wood -- thorn, elder, willow -- | 8 | ····/˘/· |
| Danced alone -- lone danced Melmillo. | 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.