'A Bad Workman Complains of His Tools'
This pen of mine is simply grand,I never loved a pen so much;This paper (underneath my hand)Is really a delight to touch;And never in my life, I think,Did I make use of finer ink.
The subject upon which I writeIs ev'rything that I could choose;I seldom knew my wits more bright,More cosmopolitan my views;Nor ever did my head containSo surplus a supply of brain!
Words in this poem
- cosmopolitan n.
- One who has no fixed residence, or who is at home in every place; a citizen of the world. [Gr. cosmopolitain, cosmopolite.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
'A Bad Workman Complains of His Tools' is in the public domain. This text is taken from Verse and Worse, Project Gutenberg ebook #36702; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Harry Graham, 'A Bad Workman Complains of His Tools', in Verse and Worse (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36702, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graham-verse-and-worse/a-bad-workman-complains-of-his-tools.html, id L23340.
Form and metre
'A Bad Workman Complains of His Tools' is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABCC grandA · muchB · handA · touchB · thinkC · inkC
- 2 ABABCC writeA · chooseB · brightA · viewsB · containC · brainC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| This pen of mine is simply grand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I never loved a pen so much; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| This paper (underneath my hand) | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Is really a delight to touch; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And never in my life, I think, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Did I make use of finer ink. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The subject upon which I write | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Is ev'rything that I could choose; | 8 | ········ |
| I seldom knew my wits more bright, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| More cosmopolitan my views; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Nor ever did my head contain | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| So surplus a supply of brain! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
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.