De Amicitiis
Though care and strifeElsewhere be rife,Upon my word I do not heed 'em;In bed I lieWith books hard by,And with increasing zest I read 'em.
Propped up in bed,So much I've readOf musty tomes that I've a headfulOf tales and rhymesOf ancient times,Which, wife declares, are "simply dreadful!"
They give me joyWithout alloy;And isn't that what books are made for?And yet--and yet--(Ah, vain regret!)I would to God they all were paid for!
No festooned cupFilled foaming upCan lure me elsewhere to confound me;Sweeter than wineThis love of mineFor these old books I see around me!
A plague, I say,On maidens gay;I'll weave no compliments to tell 'em!Vain fool I were,Did I preferThose dolls to these old friends in vellum!
At dead of nightMy chamber's brightNot only with the gas that's burning,But with the glowOf long ago,--Of beauty back from eld returning.
Fair women's looksI see in books,I see them, and I hear their laughter,--Proud, high-born maids,Unlike the jadesWhich men-folk now go chasing after!
Herein againSpeak valiant menOf all nativities and ages;I hear and smileWith rapture whileI turn these musty, magic pages.
The sword, the lance,The morris dance,The highland song, the greenwood ditty,Of these I read,Or, when the need,My Miller grinds me grist that's gritty!
When of such stuffWe've had enough,Why, there be other friends to greet us;We'll moralizeIn solemn wiseWith Plato or with Epictetus.
Sneer as you may,I'm proud to sayThat I, for one, am very gratefulTo Heaven, that sendsThese genial friendsTo banish other friendships hateful!
And when I'm done,I'd have no sonPounce on these treasures like a vulture;Nay, give them halfMy epitaph,And let them share in my sepulture.
Then, when the crackOf doom rolls backThe marble and the earth that hide me,I'll smuggle homeEach precious tome,Without a fear my wife shall chide me!
Words in this poem 16
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- zest n.
- A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
- grist n.
- Ground corn; that which is ground at one time; as much grain as is carried to the mill at one time, or the meal it produces. [AS. grist, fr. grindan. See Grind.]
- moralize v. t.
- To apply to a moral purpose; to explain in a moral sense; to draw a moral from. [Cf. F. moraliser.]
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- hateful a.
- Manifesting hate or hatred; malignant; malevolent.
- pounce n.
- A fine powder, as of sandarac, or cuttlefish bone, -- formerly used to prevent ink from spreading on manuscript. [F. ponce pumice, pounce, fr. L. pumex, -icis, pumice. See Pumice.]
- sepulture n.
- The act of depositing the dead body of a human being in the grave; burial; interment. [F. sépulture, L. sepultura, fr. sepelire, sepultum, to bury.]
- smuggle v. t.
- To import or export secretly, contrary to the law; to import or export without paying the duties imposed by law; as, to smuggle lace. [Of Low German or Scand. origin; cf. LG. smuggeln, D. smokkelen, G. schmuggeln, Dan. smugle, Sw. smyga to introduce or convey secretly, Dan. i smug secretly, D. ]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
De Amicitiis is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; 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, De Amicitiis, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/de-amicitiis.html, id L24642.
Form and metre
De Amicitiis is 78 lines in 13 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 11 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic dimeter.
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 AABCCB strifeA · rifeA · emB · lieC · byC · emB
- 2 AABCCB bedA · readA · headfulB · rhymesC · timesC · dreadfulB
- 3 AABCCB joyA · alloyA · forB · yetC · regretC · forB
- 4 AABCCB cupA · upA · meB · wineC · mineC · meB
- 5 AA-BB- sayA · gayA · em · wereB · preferB · vellum
- 6 AABCCB nightA · brightA · burningB · glowC · agoC · returningB
- 7 AABCCB looksA · booksA · laughterB · maidsC · jadesC · afterB
- 8 AABCCB againA · menA · agesB · smileC · whileC · pagesB
- 9 AABCCB lanceA · danceA · dittyB · readC · needC · grittyB
- 10 AA-BB- stuffA · enoughA · us · moralizeB · wiseB · epictetus
- 11 AABCCB mayA · sayA · gratefulB · sendsC · friendsC · hatefulB
- 12 AABCCB doneA · sonA · vultureB · halfC · epitaphC · sepultureB
- 13 AABCCB crackA · backA · meB · homeC · tomeC · 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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Though care and strife | 4 | ···· |
| Elsewhere be rife, | 4 | /··· |
| Upon my word I do not heed 'em; | 9 | ········· |
| In bed I lie | 4 | ···· |
| With books hard by, | 4 | ···· |
| And with increasing zest I read 'em. | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Propped up in bed, | 4 | ···· |
| So much I've read | 4 | ···· |
| Of musty tomes that I've a headful | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Of tales and rhymes | 4 | ···· |
| Of ancient times, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Which, wife declares, are "simply dreadful!" | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| They give me joy | 4 | ···· |
| Without alloy; | 4 | ··/· |
| And isn't that what books are made for? | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And yet--and yet-- | 4 | ···· |
| (Ah, vain regret!) | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I would to God they all were paid for! | 9 | ········· |
| No festooned cup | 4 | ··/· |
| Filled foaming up | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Can lure me elsewhere to confound me; | 9 | ···/··˘/· |
| Sweeter than wine | 4 | /˘·· |
| This love of mine | 4 | ···· |
| For these old books I see around me! | 9 | ········· |
| A plague, I say, | 4 | ···· |
| On maidens gay; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I'll weave no compliments to tell 'em! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Vain fool I were, | 4 | ···· |
| Did I prefer | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Those dolls to these old friends in vellum! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| At dead of night | 4 | ···· |
| My chamber's bright | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Not only with the gas that's burning, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| But with the glow | 4 | ···· |
| Of long ago,-- | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Of beauty back from eld returning. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Fair women's looks | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I see in books, | 4 | ···· |
| I see them, and I hear their laughter,-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Proud, high-born maids, | 4 | ···· |
| Unlike the jades | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Which men-folk now go chasing after! | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Herein again | 4 | ˘/˘/ |
| Speak valiant men | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of all nativities and ages; | 8 | ··˘/˘·/˘ |
| I hear and smile | 4 | ···· |
| With rapture while | 4 | ·/˘· |
| I turn these musty, magic pages. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| The sword, the lance, | 4 | ···· |
| The morris dance, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The highland song, the greenwood ditty, | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| Of these I read, | 4 | ···· |
| Or, when the need, | 4 | ···· |
| My Miller grinds me grist that's gritty! | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| When of such stuff | 4 | ···· |
| We've had enough, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Why, there be other friends to greet us; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| We'll moralize | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In solemn wise | 4 | ·/˘· |
| With Plato or with Epictetus. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Sneer as you may, | 4 | ···· |
| I'm proud to say | 4 | ···· |
| That I, for one, am very grateful | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| To Heaven, that sends | 4 | ·/·· |
| These genial friends | 4 | ·/˘· |
| To banish other friendships hateful! | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| And when I'm done, | 4 | ···· |
| I'd have no son | 4 | ···· |
| Pounce on these treasures like a vulture; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Nay, give them half | 4 | ···· |
| My epitaph, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And let them share in my sepulture. | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Then, when the crack | 4 | ···· |
| Of doom rolls back | 4 | ···· |
| The marble and the earth that hide me, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I'll smuggle home | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Each precious tome, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Without a fear my wife shall chide me! | 9 | ········· |
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.