How to "Fill"
"I hold it as a changeless lawFrom which no soul can sway or swerve,We have that in us which will drawWhate'er we need or most deserve."
"I fain would have your recipe,If you'll but give the snap away;Now when four clubs are dealt to me,How may I draw another, pray?"
"Whose name will stand for coming timeAs hypocrites in prose and rhyme,And be despised in every clime?The Mugwumps."
And who next year, we'd like to know,Will feed the Cleveland Leader crow,Just as they did three years ago?The Mugwumps.
Words in this poem
- changeless a.
- That can not be changed; constant; as, a changeless purpose.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- recipe n.
- A formulary or prescription for making some combination, mixture, or preparation of materials; a receipt; especially, a prescription for medicine. [L., imperative of recipere to take back, take in, receive. See Receive.]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How to "Fill" is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, How to "Fill", in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/how-to-fill.html, id L11628.
Form and metre
How to "Fill" is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 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 ABAB lawA · swerveB · drawA · deserveB
- 2 -A-A recipe · awayA · me · prayA
- 3 AAA- timeA · rhymeA · climeA · mugwumps
- 4 AAA- knowA · crowA · agoA · mugwumps
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "I hold it as a changeless law | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From which no soul can sway or swerve, | 8 | ········ |
| We have that in us which will draw | 8 | ········ |
| Whate'er we need or most deserve." | 9 | ˘˘/····˘/ |
| "I fain would have your recipe, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| If you'll but give the snap away; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Now when four clubs are dealt to me, | 8 | ········ |
| How may I draw another, pray?" | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| "Whose name will stand for coming time | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As hypocrites in prose and rhyme, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And be despised in every clime? | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The Mugwumps." | 3 | ··· |
| And who next year, we'd like to know, | 8 | ········ |
| Will feed the Cleveland Leader crow, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Just as they did three years ago? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The Mugwumps. | 3 | ··· |
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.