The Oriole
One of the ones that Midas touched,Who failed to touch us all,Was that confiding prodigal,The blissful oriole.
So drunk, he disavows itWith badinage divine;So dazzling, we mistake himFor an alighting mine.
A pleader, a dissembler,An epicure, a thief, --Betimes an oratorio,An ecstasy in chief;
The Jesuit of orchards,He cheats as he enchantsOf an entire attarFor his decamping wants.
The splendor of a Burmah,The meteor of birds,Departing like a pageantOf ballads and of bards.
I never thought that Jason soughtFor any golden fleece;But then I am a rural man,With thoughts that make for peace.
But if there were a Jason,Tradition suffer meBehold his lost emolumentUpon the apple-tree.
Words in this poem
- midas n.
- A genus of longeared South American monkeys, including numerous species of marmosets. See Marmoset. [So called from L. Midas, a man fabled to have had ass's ears.]
- confiding a.
- That confides; trustful; unsuspicious.
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- badinage n.
- Playful raillery; banter. [F., fr. badiner to joke, OF. to trifle, be silly, fr. badin silly.]
- pleader n.
- One who pleads; one who argues for or against; an advotate. [F. plaideur.]
- dissembler n.
- One who dissembles; one who conceals his opinions or dispositions under a false appearance; a hypocrite.
- epicure n.
- A follower of Epicurus; an Epicurean.
- betimes adv.
- In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.]
- jesuit n.
- One of a religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola, and approved in 1540, under the title of The Society of Jesus. [F. Jésuite, Sp. Jesuita: cf. It. Gesuita.]
- attar n.
- A fragrant essential oil; esp., a volatile and highly fragrant essential oil obtained from the petals of roses. [Also written otto and ottar.] [Per. 'atar perfume, essence, Ar. 'itr, fr. 'atara to smell sweet. Cf. Otto.]
- pageant n.
- A theatrical exhibition; a spectacle. [OE. pagent, pagen, originally, a movable scaffold or stage, hence, what was exhibited on it, fr. LL. pagina, akin to pangere to fasten; cf. L. pagina page, leaf]
- emolument n.
- The profit arising from office, employment, or labor; gain; compensation; advantage; perquisites, fees, or salary. [L. emolumentum, lit., a working out, fr. emoliri to move out, work out; e out + moliri to set in motion, exert one's self, fr. moles a huge, heavy mass: cf. F. ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Oriole is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, Complete, Project Gutenberg ebook #12242; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emily Dickinson, The Oriole, in Poems (1890–1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12242, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dickinson-poems/the-oriole.html, id L03684.
Form and metre
The Oriole is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is short measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 9 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 short measure.
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 -AAA touched · allA · prodigalA · orioleA
- 2 -A-A it · divineA · him · mineA
- 3 -A-A dissembler · thiefA · oratorio · chiefA
- 6 -A-A sought · fleeceA · man · peaceA
- 7 -A-A jason · meA · emolument · treeA
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 short measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One of the ones that Midas touched, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who failed to touch us all, | 6 | ······ |
| Was that confiding prodigal, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| The blissful oriole. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| So drunk, he disavows it | 7 | ····˘/· |
| With badinage divine; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So dazzling, we mistake him | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| For an alighting mine. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| A pleader, a dissembler, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| An epicure, a thief, -- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Betimes an oratorio, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| An ecstasy in chief; | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The Jesuit of orchards, | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| He cheats as he enchants | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Of an entire attar | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| For his decamping wants. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| The splendor of a Burmah, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| The meteor of birds, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Departing like a pageant | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| Of ballads and of bards. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I never thought that Jason sought | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| For any golden fleece; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| But then I am a rural man, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With thoughts that make for peace. | 6 | ······ |
| But if there were a Jason, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Tradition suffer me | 6 | ˘/˘/˘· |
| Behold his lost emolument | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘˘ |
| Upon the apple-tree. | 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.