Description of an Author’s Bedchamber
WHERE the Red Lion flaring o’er the way,Invites each passing stranger that can pay;Where Calvert’s butt, and Parsons’ black champagne,Regale the drabs and bloods of Drury-lane;There in a lonely room, from bailiffs snug,The Muse found Scroggen stretch’d beneath a rug;A window, patch’d with paper, lent a ray,That dimly show’d the state in which he lay;The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread;The humid wall with paltry pictures spread:The royal game of goose was there in view,And the twelve rules the royal martyr drew;The seasons, fram’d with listing, found a place,And brave prince William show’d his lamp-black face:The morn was cold, he views with keen desireThe rusty grate unconscious of a fire;With beer and milk arrears the frieze was scor’d,And five crack’d teacups dress’d the chimney board;A nightcap deck’d his brows instead of bay,A cap by night—a stocking all the day!
Words in this poem
- champagne n.
- A light wine, of several kinds, originally made in the province of Champagne, in France. [F. See Champaign.]
- regale n.
- A prerogative of royalty. Johnson. [LL. regale, pl. regalia, fr. L. regalis: cf. F. régale. See Regal.]
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- sanded a.
- Covered or sprinkled with sand; sandy; barren. Thomson.
- listing n.
- The act or process of one who lists (in any sense of the verb); as, the listing of a door; the listing of a stock at the Stock Exchange.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- chimney n.
- A fireplace or hearth. Sir W. Raleigh.
- nightcap n.
- A cap worn in bed to protect the head, or in undress.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Description of an Author’s Bedchamber is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Project Gutenberg ebook #3545; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Goldsmith, Description of an Author’s Bedchamber, in Poems (1764–1774), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3545, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/goldsmith-poems/description-of-an-author-s-bedchamber.html, id L00428.
Form and metre
Description of an Author’s Bedchamber is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABBCCAADDEEFFGGHHAA wayA · payA · champagneB · laneB · snugC · rugC · rayA · layA · treadD · spreadD · viewE · drewE · placeF · faceF · desireG · fireG · scor'dH · boardH · bayA · dayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHERE the Red Lion flaring o’er the way, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Invites each passing stranger that can pay; | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| Where Calvert’s butt, and Parsons’ black champagne, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Regale the drabs and bloods of Drury-lane; | 11 | ˘/˘·····/˘· |
| There in a lonely room, from bailiffs snug, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The Muse found Scroggen stretch’d beneath a rug; | 10 | ·········· |
| A window, patch’d with paper, lent a ray, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That dimly show’d the state in which he lay; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The sanded floor that grits beneath the tread; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The humid wall with paltry pictures spread: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The royal game of goose was there in view, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And the twelve rules the royal martyr drew; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The seasons, fram’d with listing, found a place, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And brave prince William show’d his lamp-black face: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The morn was cold, he views with keen desire | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| The rusty grate unconscious of a fire; | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| With beer and milk arrears the frieze was scor’d, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And five crack’d teacups dress’d the chimney board; | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| A nightcap deck’d his brows instead of bay, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| A cap by night—a stocking all the day! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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.