Guy
Mortal mixed of middle clay,Attempered to the night and day,Interchangeable with things,Needs no amulets nor rings.Guy possessed the talismanThat all things from him began;And as, of old, PolycratesChained the sunshine and the breeze,So did Guy betimes discoverFortune was his guard and lover;In strange junctures, felt, with awe,His own symmetry with law;That no mixture could withstandThe virtue of his lucky hand.He gold or jewel could not lose,Nor not receive his ample dues.Fearless Guy had never foes,He did their weapons decompose.Aimed at him, the blushing bladeHealed as fast the wounds it made.If on the foeman fell his gaze,Him it would straightway blind or craze,In the street, if he turned round,His eye the eye 't was seeking found.
It seemed his Genius discreetWorked on the Maker's own receipt,And made each tide and elementStewards of stipend and of rent;So that the common waters fellAs costly wine into his well.He had so sped his wise affairsThat he caught Nature in his snares.Early or late, the falling rainArrived in time to swell his grain;Stream could not so perversely windBut corn of Guy's was there to grind:The siroc found it on its way,To speed his sails, to dry his hay;And the world's sun seemed to riseTo drudge all day for Guy the wise.In his rich nurseries, timely skillStrong crab with nobler blood did fill;The zephyr in his garden rolledFrom plum-trees vegetable gold;And all the hours of the yearWith their own harvest honored were.There was no frost but welcome came,Nor freshet, nor midsummer flame.Belonged to wind and world the toilAnd venture, and to Guy the oil.
Words in this poem
- interchangeable a.
- Admitting of exchange or mutual substitution. [Cf. OF. entrechangeable.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- 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.]
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- foeman n.
- An enemy in war. [AS. fhman.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- discreet a.
- Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
- zephyr n.
- The west wind; poetically, any soft, gentle breeze. [L. zephyrus, Gr. zéphyr.]
- freshet n.
- A stream of fresh water. [OE. fresche flood + -et. See Fresh, a.]
- midsummer n.
- The middle of summer. Shak. Midsummer daisy (Bot.), the oxeye daisy. [AS. midsumor.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Guy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Household Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #12843; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Guy, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/guy.html, id L07391.
Form and metre
Guy is 50 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 92% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCC--DDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK clayA · dayA · thingsB · ringsB · talismanC · beganC · polycrates · breeze · discoverD · loverD · aweE · lawE · withstandF · handF · loseG · duesG · foesH · decomposeH · bladeI · madeI · gazeJ · crazeJ · roundK · foundK
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ--KKLL discreetA · receiptA · elementB · rentB · fellC · wellC · affairsD · snaresD · rainE · grainE · windF · grindF · wayG · hayG · riseH · wiseH · skillI · fillI · rolledJ · goldJ · year · were · cameK · flameK · toilL · oilL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mortal mixed of middle clay, | 8 | /˘·˘·/˘· |
| Attempered to the night and day, | 8 | ········ |
| Interchangeable with things, | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| Needs no amulets nor rings. | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Guy possessed the talisman | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘ |
| That all things from him began; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And as, of old, Polycrates | 7 | ······· |
| Chained the sunshine and the breeze, | 8 | ·˘·/···· |
| So did Guy betimes discover | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Fortune was his guard and lover; | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| In strange junctures, felt, with awe, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| His own symmetry with law; | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| That no mixture could withstand | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| The virtue of his lucky hand. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He gold or jewel could not lose, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor not receive his ample dues. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Fearless Guy had never foes, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| He did their weapons decompose. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Aimed at him, the blushing blade | 8 | ·˘···/˘· |
| Healed as fast the wounds it made. | 8 | ·˘······ |
| If on the foeman fell his gaze, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Him it would straightway blind or craze, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In the street, if he turned round, | 8 | ······˘· |
| His eye the eye 't was seeking found. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| It seemed his Genius discreet | 8 | ··˘·/˘˘/ |
| Worked on the Maker's own receipt, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And made each tide and element | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Stewards of stipend and of rent; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| So that the common waters fell | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| As costly wine into his well. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He had so sped his wise affairs | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That he caught Nature in his snares. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Early or late, the falling rain | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Arrived in time to swell his grain; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Stream could not so perversely wind | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But corn of Guy's was there to grind: | 8 | ········ |
| The siroc found it on its way, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To speed his sails, to dry his hay; | 8 | ········ |
| And the world's sun seemed to rise | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| To drudge all day for Guy the wise. | 8 | ········ |
| In his rich nurseries, timely skill | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Strong crab with nobler blood did fill; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The zephyr in his garden rolled | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| From plum-trees vegetable gold; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And all the hours of the year | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With their own harvest honored were. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| There was no frost but welcome came, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor freshet, nor midsummer flame. | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| Belonged to wind and world the toil | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And venture, and to Guy the oil. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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.