A London Involuntary
Old Palace Yard!Hark how their breath draws lank and hard,The sallow stern police!Breaking the desultory midnight peaceWith plangent call, to cry'Division'! This their first especial charge.And now, low, luminous, and large,The slumbrous Member hurries by.Let us take cab, Dear Heart, take cab and goFrom out the lith of this loud world (I knowThe meaning of the word). Come, let us hieTo where the lamp-posts ouch the troubled sky,--(And if there is one thing for which I vouchIt is my knowledge of the verb to ouch.)So, as we stealHomeward together, we shall feelThe buxom breeze,--(Observe the epithet; an apt one, if you please.)Down through the sober paven street,Which, purged and sweet,Gleams in the ambient deluge of the water-cart,Bemused and blurred and pinkly lustrous, whereThe blandest lion in Trafalgar SquareSeems but a partOf the great continent of light,--An attribute of the embittered night,--How new, how naked and how clean!Couchant, slow, shimmering, superb!Constant to one environment, nor even seenPottering aimlessly along the kerb.Lo!On the pavement, one of thoseGrim men who go down to the sea in ships,Blaspheming, reeling in a foul ellipse,Home to some tangled alley-bedside goes,--Oozing and flushed, sharing his elemental mirthWith all the jocund undissembling earth;Drooping his shameless nose,Nor hitching up his drifting, shifting clothes.And here is Piccadilly! Loudly dense,Intractable, voluminous, immense!(Dear, dear my heart's desire, can I be talking sense?)
Words in this poem 18
- desultory a.
- Leaping or skipping about. [L. desultorius, fr. desultor a leaper, fr. desilire, desultum, to leap down; de + salire to leap. See Saltation.]
- plangent a.
- Beating; dashing, as a wave. [L. plangens, -entis, fr. plangere to beat. See Plaint.]
- slumbrous a.
- Slumberous. Keats.
- hurries n.
- A staith or framework from which coal is discharged from cars into vessels.
- lith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Lie, to recline, for lieth.
- ouch n.
- A socket or bezel holding a precious stone; hence, a jewel or ornament worn on the person. [OE. ouch, nouche (a nouch being taken for an ouch: cf. Adder), fr. OF. nusche, nosche, nousche, buckle, clasp, LL. nusca, fr. OHG. nusca, nuscha.]
- vouch v. t.
- To call; to summon. [OE. vouchen, OF. vochier to call, fr. L. vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice. See Voice, and cf. Avouch.]
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- 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,]
- buxom a.
- Yielding; pliable or compliant; ready to obey; obedient; tractable; docile; meek; humble. [OE. buxum, boxom, buhsum, pliable, obedient, AS. bocsum, buhsum (akin to D. buigzaam blexible, G. biegsam); bugan to bow, bend + -sum, E. -some. See Bow to bend]
- ambient a.
- Encompassing on all sides; circumfused; investing. [L. ambiens, p. pr. of ambire to go around; amb- + ire to go.]
- continent a.
- Serving to restrain or limit; restraining; opposing. [L. continens, -entis, prop., p. pr. of continere to hold together, to repress: cf. F. continent. See Contain.]
- couchant a.
- Lying down with head erect; squatting. [F., p. pr. of coucher. See Couch, v. t.]
- shimmering n.
- A gleam or glimmering.
- superb a.
- Grand; magnificent; august; stately; as, a superb edifice; a superb colonnade. [F. superbe, L. superbus, fr. super over. See Super-.]
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- piccadilly n.
- A high, stiff collar for the neck; also, a hem or band about the skirt of a garment, -- worn by men in the 17th century. [OF. piccagilles the several divisions of pieces fastened together about the brim of the collar of a doublet, a dim. fr. Sp. picado, p.p. of picar to prick. See ]
- voluminous a.
- Of or pertaining to volume or volumes. Specifically: -- (a) Consisting of many folds, coils, or convolutions. [L. voluminosus: cf. F. volumineux.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A London Involuntary 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 London Involuntary, in Verse and Worse (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36702, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graham-verse-and-worse/a-london-involuntary.html, id L23352.
Form and metre
A London Involuntary is 42 lines in a single stanza. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCDDCEE-CFFGGHHIIJKKJLLMNMN-OPPOQQO-RRR yardA · hardA · policeB · peaceB · cryC · chargeD · largeD · byC · goE · knowE · hie · skyC · vouchF · ouchF · stealG · feelG · breezeH · pleaseH · streetI · sweetI · cartJ · whereK · squareK · partJ · lightL · nightL · cleanM · superbN · seenM · kerbN · lo · thoseO · shipsP · ellipseP · goesO · mirthQ · earthQ · noseO · clothes · denseR · immenseR · senseR
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Old Palace Yard! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Hark how their breath draws lank and hard, | 8 | ········ |
| The sallow stern police! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Breaking the desultory midnight peace | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/·· |
| With plangent call, to cry | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'Division'! This their first especial charge. | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| And now, low, luminous, and large, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The slumbrous Member hurries by. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Let us take cab, Dear Heart, take cab and go | 10 | ·········· |
| From out the lith of this loud world (I know | 10 | ·········· |
| The meaning of the word). Come, let us hie | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To where the lamp-posts ouch the troubled sky,-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| (And if there is one thing for which I vouch | 10 | ·········· |
| It is my knowledge of the verb to ouch.) | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| So, as we steal | 4 | ···· |
| Homeward together, we shall feel | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| The buxom breeze,-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| (Observe the epithet; an apt one, if you please.) | 12 | ˘/·/˘······· |
| Down through the sober paven street, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Which, purged and sweet, | 4 | ···· |
| Gleams in the ambient deluge of the water-cart, | 12 | ···/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Bemused and blurred and pinkly lustrous, where | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| The blandest lion in Trafalgar Square | 9 | ·/˘/·˘/˘· |
| Seems but a part | 4 | ···· |
| Of the great continent of light,-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| An attribute of the embittered night,-- | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| How new, how naked and how clean! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Couchant, slow, shimmering, superb! | 8 | /˘·/˘˘˘/ |
| Constant to one environment, nor even seen | 10 | /˘··˘/˘·/· |
| Pottering aimlessly along the kerb. | 8 | /˘/˘˘/·· |
| Lo! | 1 | · |
| On the pavement, one of those | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Grim men who go down to the sea in ships, | 10 | ·········· |
| Blaspheming, reeling in a foul ellipse, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Home to some tangled alley-bedside goes,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘/·· |
| Oozing and flushed, sharing his elemental mirth | 12 | /˘··/˘··˘/˘· |
| With all the jocund undissembling earth; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Drooping his shameless nose, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Nor hitching up his drifting, shifting clothes. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And here is Piccadilly! Loudly dense, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Intractable, voluminous, immense! | 8 | ˘/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| (Dear, dear my heart's desire, can I be talking sense?) | 12 | ····˘/···/˘· |
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.