Philosopher
Philosophers are lined with eyes within,And, being so, the sage unmakes the man.In love, he cannot therefore cease his trade;Scarce the first blush has overspread his cheek,He feels it, introverts his learned eyeTo catch the unconscious heart in the very act.
His mother died,--the only friend he had,--Some tears escaped, but his philosophyCouched like a cat sat watching close behindAnd throttled all his passion. Is't not likeThat devil-spider that devours her mateScarce freed from her embraces?
Words in this poem
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Philosopher 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, Philosopher, in Poems (1847), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12843, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/emerson-poems/philosopher.html, id L07573.
Form and metre
Philosopher is 12 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 42% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophers are lined with eyes within, | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| And, being so, the sage unmakes the man. | 9 | ·/······· |
| In love, he cannot therefore cease his trade; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Scarce the first blush has overspread his cheek, | 10 | ·········· |
| He feels it, introverts his learned eye | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To catch the unconscious heart in the very act. | 12 | ····/˘···/˘· |
| His mother died,--the only friend he had,-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Some tears escaped, but his philosophy | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| Couched like a cat sat watching close behind | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And throttled all his passion. Is't not like | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That devil-spider that devours her mate | 8 | ·//·˘/·· |
| Scarce freed from her embraces? | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
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.