Laurel · John Drinkwater · Poems, 1908-1919

The Building

John Drinkwater (1882–1937) · 1919

iambic pentameter · 69 lines · from Poems, 1908-1919

Whence these hods, and bricks of bright red clay,And swart men climbing ladders in the night?

Stilled are the clamorous energies of day,The streets are dumb, and, prodigal of light,The lamps but shine upon a city of sleep.A step goes out into the silence; farAcross the quiet roofs the hour is tolledFrom ghostly towers; the indifferent earth may keepThat ragged flotsam shielded from the coldIn earth’s good time: not, moving among men,Shall he compel so fortunate a star.Pavements I know, forsaken now, are strange,Alien walks not beautiful, that then,In the familiar day, are part of allMy breathless pilgrimage, not beautiful, but dear;The monotony of sound has suffered change,The eddies of wanton sound are spent, and clearTo bleak monotonies of silence fall.

And, while the city sleeps, in the central poiseOf quiet, lamps are flaming in the night,Blown to long tongues by winds that moan betweenThe growing walls, and throwing misty lightOn swart men bearing bricks of bright red clayIn laden hods; and ever the thin noiseOf trowels deftly fashioning the cleanLong lines that are the shaping of proud thought.Ghost-like they move between the day and day,These men whose labour strictly shall be wroughtInto the captive image of a dream.Their sinews weary not, the plummet fallsTo measured use from steadfast hands apace,And momently the moist and levelled seamKnits brick to brick and momently the wallsBestow the wonder of form on formless space.

And whence all these? The hod and plummet-line,The trowels tapping, and the lamps that shineIn long, dust-heavy beams from wall to wall,The mortar and the bricks of bright red clay,Ladder and corded scaffolding, and allThe gear of common traffic--whence are they?And whence the men who use them?When he came,God upon chaos, crying in the nameOf all adventurous vision that the voidShould yield up man, and man, created, roseOut of the deep, the marvel of all things made,Then in immortal wonder was destroyedAll worth of trivial knowledge, and the closeOf man’s most urgent meditation stayedEven as his first thought--“Whence am I sprung?”What proud ecstatic mystery was pentIn that first act for man’s astonishment,From age to unconfessing age, amongHis manifold travel. And in all I seeOf common daily usage is renewedThis primal and ecstatic mysteryOf chaos bidden into many-huedWonders of form, life in the void create,And monstrous silence made articulate.

Not the first word of God upon the deepNor the first pulse of life along the dayMore marvellous than these new walls that sweepStarward, these lines that discipline the clay,These lamps swung in the wind that send their lightOn swart men climbing ladders in the night.No trowel-tap but sings anew for menThe rapture of quickening water and continent,No mortared line but witnesses againChaos transfigured into lineament.

Words in this poem 23

ghostly a.: Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
flotsam n.: Goods lost by shipwreck, and floating on the sea; -- in distinction from jetsam or jetson. Blackstone. [F. flotter to float. See FFlotilla, and cf. Jetsam.]
shall v. i.: To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
breathless a.: Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
pilgrimage n.: The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
monotony n.: A frequent recurrence of the same tone or sound, producing a dull uniformity; absence of variety, as in speaking or singing. [Gr. monotonie. See Monotonius.]
deftly adv.: Aptly; fitly; dexterously; neatly. [Cf. Defly.]
ghost n.: The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
plummet n.: A piece of lead attached to a line, used in sounding the depth of water. [OE. plommet, OF. plommet, fr. plom, plum, lead, F. plomb. See Plumb.]
apace adv.: With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
knits n.: Small particles of ore. Raymond. [Prob. same word as nit a louse's egg.]
formless a.: Shapeless; without a determinate form; wanting regularity of shape.
corded a.: Bound or fastened with cords.
scaffolding n.: A scaffold; a supporting framework; as, the scaffolding of the body.
chaos n.: An empty, immeasurable space; a yawning chasm. [L. chaos chaos (in senses 1 & 2), Gr. Chasm.]
trivial a.: Found anywhere; common. [L. trivialis, properly, that is in, or belongs to, the crossroads or public streets; hence, that may be found everywhere, common, fr. trivium a place where thre]
stayed a.: Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
pent p. p.: Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
astonishment n.: The condition of one who is stunned. Hence: Numbness; loss of sensation; stupor; loss of sense. [Cf. OF. est, F. étonnement.]
primal a.: First; primary; original; chief. [LL. primalis, fr. L. primus the first. See Prime, a.]
quickening n.: The act or process of making or of becoming quick.
continent a.: Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
lineament n.: One of the outlines, exterior features, or distinctive marks, of a body or figure, particularly of the face; feature; form; mark; - - usually in the plural. [L. lineamentum, fr. linea line: cf. F. linéament. See 3d Line.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Building 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, The Building, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-building.html, id L23032.

Form and metre

The Building is 69 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).

See 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 AB clay^A · night^B
2 ABCDECEFDGFHIGIH day^A · light^B · sleep^C · far^D · tolled^E · keep^C · cold^E · men^F · star^D · strange^G · then^F · all^H · dear^I · change^G · clear^I · fall^H
3 JKLKMJLNMNOPQOPQ poise^J · night^K · between^L · light^K · clay^M · noise^J · clean^L · thought^N · day^M · wrought^N · dream^O · falls^P · apace^Q · seam^O · walls^P · space^Q
4 RRSTST-UUV-WV-WX--X-Y-YZZ line^R · shine^R · wall^S · clay^T · all^S · they^T · them · came^U · name^U · void^V · rose · made^W · destroyed^V · close · stayed^W · sprung^X · pent · astonishment · among^X · see · renewed^Y · mystery · hued^Y · create^Z · articulate^Z
5 ababccd-d- deep^a · day^b · sweep^a · clay^b · light^c · night^c · men^d · continent · again^d · lineament

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
Whence these hods, and bricks of bright red clay,	9	·········
And swart men climbing ladders in the night?	10	···/˘/˘···
Stilled are the clamorous energies of day,	10	···/˘˘/˘··
The streets are dumb, and, prodigal of light,	10	·····/˘˘··
The lamps but shine upon a city of sleep.	11	·······/˘··
A step goes out into the silence; far	10	·······/˘·
Across the quiet roofs the hour is tolled	10	˘/·/··/˘··
From ghostly towers; the indifferent earth may keep	11	·/˘/·˘/˘···
That ragged flotsam shielded from the cold	10	·/˘/˘/˘···
In earth’s good time: not, moving among men,	10	·····/˘···
Shall he compel so fortunate a star.	10	··˘/·/˘˘··
Pavements I know, forsaken now, are strange,	10	/˘··˘/˘···
Alien walks not beautiful, that then,	10	/˘˘··/˘˘··
In the familiar day, are part of all	10	··˘/˘·····
My breathless pilgrimage, not beautiful, but dear;	10	·/˘/˘·/˘··
The monotony of sound has suffered change,	10	·˘/˘···/˘·
The eddies of wanton sound are spent, and clear	11	·/˘·/˘·····
To bleak monotonies of silence fall.	10	··˘/˘˘·/˘·
And, while the city sleeps, in the central poise	11	···/˘···/˘·
Of quiet, lamps are flaming in the night,	10	·/˘··/˘···
Blown to long tongues by winds that moan between	10	··········
The growing walls, and throwing misty light	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
On swart men bearing bricks of bright red clay	10	···/˘·····
In laden hods; and ever the thin noise	10	·/˘··/˘···
Of trowels deftly fashioning the clean	10	·/˘/˘/˘˘··
Long lines that are the shaping of proud thought.	10	·····/˘···
Ghost-like they move between the day and day,	10	··········
These men whose labour strictly shall be wrought	10	···/·/˘···
Into the captive image of a dream.	10	···/˘/˘···
Their sinews weary not, the plummet falls	10	···/˘··/˘·
To measured use from steadfast hands apace,	10	·/˘··/··˘/
And momently the moist and levelled seam	10	·/˘˘···/˘·
Knits brick to brick and momently the walls	10	·····/˘˘··
Bestow the wonder of form on formless space.	11	˘/·/˘···/˘·
And whence all these? The hod and plummet-line,	10	·······/˘·
The trowels tapping, and the lamps that shine	10	·/˘/˘·····
In long, dust-heavy beams from wall to wall,	10	···/˘·····
The mortar and the bricks of bright red clay,	10	·/˘·······
Ladder and corded scaffolding, and all	10	/˘·/˘/˘˘··
The gear of common traffic--whence are they?	10	···/˘/˘···
And whence the men who use them?	7	·······
When he came,	3	···
God upon chaos, crying in the name	10	···/˘/˘···
Of all adventurous vision that the void	10	··˘/˘/˘···
Should yield up man, and man, created, rose	10	······˘/˘·
Out of the deep, the marvel of all things made,	11	·····/˘····
Then in immortal wonder was destroyed	10	··˘/˘/˘·˘/
All worth of trivial knowledge, and the close	10	···/˘/˘···
Of man’s most urgent meditation stayed	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
Even as his first thought--“Whence am I sprung?”	10	/˘········
What proud ecstatic mystery was pent	10	··˘/˘/˘˘··
In that first act for man’s astonishment,	10	······˘/˘˘
From age to unconfessing age, among	10	··········
His manifold travel. And in all I see	11	·/˘·/˘·····
Of common daily usage is renewed	10	·/˘/˘/˘·˘/
This primal and ecstatic mystery	10	·/˘·˘/˘/˘˘
Of chaos bidden into many-hued	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Wonders of form, life in the void create,	10	/˘······˘/
And monstrous silence made articulate.	10	·/˘/˘·˘/˘·
Not the first word of God upon the deep	10	··········
Nor the first pulse of life along the day	10	······˘/··
More marvellous than these new walls that sweep	10	··········
Starward, these lines that discipline the clay,	10	·····/˘˘··
These lamps swung in the wind that send their light	10	··········
On swart men climbing ladders in the night.	10	···/˘/˘···
No trowel-tap but sings anew for men	10	·/˘···˘/··
The rapture of quickening water and continent,	11	·/˘·/˘/˘·/˘
No mortared line but witnesses again	10	·/˘··/˘˘˘/
Chaos transfigured into lineament.	11	/˘·····/˘˘˘

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.

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