The Bookworm
'I'm tired - Oh, tired of books,' said Jack,'I long for meadows green,And woods, where shadowy violetsNod their cool leaves between;I long to see the ploughman strideHis darkening acres o'er,To hear the hoarse sea-waters driveTheir billows 'gainst the shore;I long to watch the sea-mew wheelBack to her rock-perched mate;Or, where the breathing cows are housed,Lean dreaming o'er the gate.Something has gone, and ink and printWill never bring it back;I long for the green fields again,I'm tired of books,' said Jack.
Words in this poem
- ploughman n.
- One who plows, or who holds and guides a plow; hence, a husbandman. Chaucer.
- stride v. t.
- To walk with long steps, especially in a measured or pompous manner. [AS. stridan to stride, to strive; akin to LG. striden, OFries. strida to strive, D. strijden to strive, to contend, G. streiten, OHG. stritan; of uncertain orig]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Bookworm 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, The Bookworm, in Peacock Pie (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3753, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-peacock-pie/the-bookworm.html, id L12585.
Form and metre
The Bookworm is 16 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% 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 AB-B-----C-C-A-A jackA · greenB · violets · betweenB · stride · o'er · drive · shore · wheel · mateC · housed · gateC · print · backA · again · jackA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'I'm tired - Oh, tired of books,' said Jack, | 8 | ·/·/···· |
| 'I long for meadows green, | 6 | ···/·· |
| And woods, where shadowy violets | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Nod their cool leaves between; | 6 | ······ |
| I long to see the ploughman stride | 8 | ········ |
| His darkening acres o'er, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| To hear the hoarse sea-waters drive | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their billows 'gainst the shore; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I long to watch the sea-mew wheel | 8 | ········ |
| Back to her rock-perched mate; | 6 | ······ |
| Or, where the breathing cows are housed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lean dreaming o'er the gate. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Something has gone, and ink and print | 8 | /˘······ |
| Will never bring it back; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I long for the green fields again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I'm tired of books,' said Jack. | 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.