A Dedication (To E. G.) II
But there are men who, in the time of age,Sometimes remember all that age forgets:The early hope, the hardly compassed wage,The change of corn, and snow, and violets;They are glad of praise; they know this morning bringsAs true a song as any yesterday;Their labour still is set to many things,They cry their questions out along the way.They give as who may gladly take againSome gift at need; they move with gallant easeAmong all eager companies of men;And never signed of age are such as these.They speak with youth, and never speak amiss;Of such are you; and what is youth but this?
Words in this poem
- compassed a.
- Rounded; arched.
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Dedication (To E. G.) II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Drinkwater, A Dedication (To E. G.) II, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/a-dedication-to-e-g-ii.html, id L23083.
Form and metre
A Dedication (To E. G.) II is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%).
See other English sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG ageA · forgetsB · wageA · violetsB · bringsC · yesterdayD · thingsC · wayD · againE · easeF · menE · theseF · amissG · thisG
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| But there are men who, in the time of age, | 10 | ·········· |
| Sometimes remember all that age forgets: | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| The early hope, the hardly compassed wage, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The change of corn, and snow, and violets; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| They are glad of praise; they know this morning brings | 11 | ········/˘· |
| As true a song as any yesterday; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Their labour still is set to many things, | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| They cry their questions out along the way. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| They give as who may gladly take again | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Some gift at need; they move with gallant ease | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Among all eager companies of men; | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| And never signed of age are such as these. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| They speak with youth, and never speak amiss; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Of such are you; and what is youth but this? | 10 | ·········· |
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.