The Garret
Within a London garret high,Above the roofs and near the sky,My ill-rewarding pen I plyTo win me bread.This little chamber, six by four,Is castle, study, den, and more,--Altho' no carpet decks the floor,Nor down, the bed.
My room is rather bleak and bare;I only have one broken chair,But then, there's plenty of fresh air,--Some light, beside.What tho' I cannot ask my friendsTo share with me my odds and ends,A liberty my aerie lends,To most denied.
The bore who falters at the stairNo more shall be my curse and care,And duns shall fail to find my lairWith beastly bills.When debts have grown and funds are short,I find it rather pleasant sportTo live "above the common sort"With all their ills.
I write my rhymes and sing away,And dawn may come or dusk or day:Tho' fare be poor, my heart is gay.And full of glee.Though chimney-pots be all my views;'T is nearer for the winging Muse,So I am sure she 'll not refuseTo visit me.
Words in this poem
- garret n.
- A turret; a watchtower. [OE. garite, garette, watchtower, place of lookout, OF. garite, also meaning, a place of refuge, F. guérite a place of refuge, donjon, sentinel box, fr. OF. gari]
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
- 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,]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- beastly a.
- Pertaining to, or having the form, nature, or habits of, a beast.
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- chimney n.
- A fireplace or hearth. Sir W. Raleigh.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Garret is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Project Gutenberg ebook #18338; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Garret, in The Complete Poems (1893–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18338, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dunbar-poems/the-garret.html, id L00601.
Form and metre
The Garret is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AAABCCCB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 19% 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 AAABCCCB highA · skyA · plyA · breadB · fourC · moreC · floorC · bedB
- 2 AAABCCCB bareA · chairA · airA · besideB · friendsC · endsC · lendsC · deniedB
- 3 AAABCCCB stairA · careA · lairA · billsB · shortC · sportC · sortC · illsB
- 4 AAABCCCB awayA · dayA · gayA · gleeB · viewsC · museC · refuseC · meB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Within a London garret high, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Above the roofs and near the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| My ill-rewarding pen I ply | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| To win me bread. | 4 | ···· |
| This little chamber, six by four, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Is castle, study, den, and more,-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Altho' no carpet decks the floor, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Nor down, the bed. | 4 | ···· |
| My room is rather bleak and bare; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I only have one broken chair, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But then, there's plenty of fresh air,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Some light, beside. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| What tho' I cannot ask my friends | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To share with me my odds and ends, | 8 | ········ |
| A liberty my aerie lends, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| To most denied. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The bore who falters at the stair | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No more shall be my curse and care, | 8 | ········ |
| And duns shall fail to find my lair | 8 | ········ |
| With beastly bills. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When debts have grown and funds are short, | 8 | ········ |
| I find it rather pleasant sport | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To live "above the common sort" | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With all their ills. | 4 | ···· |
| I write my rhymes and sing away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And dawn may come or dusk or day: | 8 | ········ |
| Tho' fare be poor, my heart is gay. | 8 | ········ |
| And full of glee. | 4 | ···· |
| Though chimney-pots be all my views; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'T is nearer for the winging Muse, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| So I am sure she 'll not refuse | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| To visit me. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.