The Adventures of Simon Swaugum: The Merchant's Return
Returning far o'er many a hill and stoneAnd much in dread his earthen ware would break,Thoughtful he rode, and uttering many a groanLest at some worm-hole vent his cask should leak--His cask, that held the joys of rural squireWhich even, 'twas said, the parson did admire,And valued more than all the dusty pagesThat Calvin penn'd, and fifty other sages--Once high in fame--beprais'd in verse and prose,But now unthumb'd, enjoy a sweet repose.At dusk of eve he reach'd his old abode,Around him quick his anxious townsmen came,One ask'd what luck had happ'd him on the road,And one ungear'd the mud-bespatter'd team.While on his cask each glanced a loving eye,Patient, to all he gave a brisk reply--Told all that had befallen him on his way,What wonders in the town detain'd his stay--"Houses as high as yonder white-oak tree"And boats of monstrous size that go to sea,"Streets throng'd with busy folk, like swarming hive;"The Lord knows how they all contrive to live--"No ploughs I saw, no hoes, no care, no charge,"In fact, they all are gentlemen at large,"And goods so thick on every window lie,"They all seem born to sell--and none to buy."
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Adventures of Simon Swaugum: The Merchant's Return is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Philip Freneau, Poet of the American Revolution. Volume 1 (of 3), Project Gutenberg ebook #38475; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Philip Freneau, The Adventures of Simon Swaugum: The Merchant's Return, in Columbus to Ferdinand, and other poems (1786–1815), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38475, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/freneau-poems/the-adventures-of-simon-swaugum-the-merchant-s-return.html, id L12696.
Form and metre
The Adventures of Simon Swaugum: The Merchant's Return is 26 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 A-A-BBCCDDE-E-FFGGHHIIJJFF stoneA · break · groanA · leak · squireB · admireB · pagesC · sagesC · proseD · reposeD · abodeE · came · roadE · team · eyeF · replyF · wayG · stayG · treeH · seaH · hiveI · liveI · chargeJ · largeJ · lieF · buyF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Returning far o'er many a hill and stone | 10 | ˘/˘··/···· |
| And much in dread his earthen ware would break, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thoughtful he rode, and uttering many a groan | 10 | /˘···/˘/·· |
| Lest at some worm-hole vent his cask should leak-- | 10 | ·········· |
| His cask, that held the joys of rural squire | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Which even, 'twas said, the parson did admire, | 10 | ·/···/˘·˘/ |
| And valued more than all the dusty pages | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| That Calvin penn'd, and fifty other sages-- | 11 | ·/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Once high in fame--beprais'd in verse and prose, | 10 | ·········· |
| But now unthumb'd, enjoy a sweet repose. | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| At dusk of eve he reach'd his old abode, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Around him quick his anxious townsmen came, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| One ask'd what luck had happ'd him on the road, | 10 | ·········· |
| And one ungear'd the mud-bespatter'd team. | 10 | ·········· |
| While on his cask each glanced a loving eye, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Patient, to all he gave a brisk reply-- | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Told all that had befallen him on his way, | 11 | ····˘/˘···· |
| What wonders in the town detain'd his stay-- | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| "Houses as high as yonder white-oak tree | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| "And boats of monstrous size that go to sea, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| "Streets throng'd with busy folk, like swarming hive; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "The Lord knows how they all contrive to live-- | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| "No ploughs I saw, no hoes, no care, no charge, | 10 | ·········· |
| "In fact, they all are gentlemen at large, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| "And goods so thick on every window lie, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| "They all seem born to sell--and none to buy." | 10 | ·········· |
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