China
The Chinaman from early youthIs by his wise preceptors taughtTo have no dealings with the Truth,In fact, romancing is his 'forte.'In juggling words he takes the prize,By the sheer beauty of his lies.
For laundrywork he has a knack;He takes in shirts and makes them blue;When he omits to send them backHe takes his customers in too.He must be ranked in the 'elite'Of those whose hobby is deceit.
For ladies 'tis the fashion hereTo pinch their feet and make them small,Which, to the civilised idea,Is not a proper thing at all.Our modern Western woman's tasteIn pinching leans towards the waist.
The Chinese Empire is the fieldWhere foreign missionaries go;A poor result their labours yield,And they have little fruit to show;For, if you would convert Wun Lung,You have to catch him very young.
The Chinaman has got a creedAnd a religion of his own,And would be much obliged indeedIf you could leave his soul alone;And he prefers, which may seem odd,His own to other people's god.
Yet still the missionary triesTo point him out his wickedness,Until the badgered natives rise,--And there's one missionary less!Then foreign Pow'rs step in, you see,And ask for an indemnity.
Words in this poem
- chinaman n.
- A native of China; a Chinese.
- knack v. i.
- To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise to chink. [Obs. or Prov. [Prob. of imitative origin; cf. G. knacken to break, Dan. knage to crack, and E. knock.]
- hobby n.
- A small, strong-winged European falcon (Falco subbuteo), formerly trained for hawking. [OE. hobi; cf. OF. hobe, hobé, F. hobereau a hobby, a species of falcon. OF. hober to move, stir. Cf. Hobby a horse.]
- civilised a.
- Reclaimed from savage life and manners; instructed in arts, learning, and civil manners; refined; cultivated.
- indemnity n.
- Security; insurance; exemption from loss or damage, past or to come; immunity from penalty, or the punishment of past offenses; amnesty. [L. indemnitas, fr. indemnis uninjured: cf. F. indemnité. See Indemnify.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
China 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, China, in Verse and Worse (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36702, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graham-verse-and-worse/china.html, id L23298.
Form and metre
China is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 A-A-BB youthA · taught · truthA · forte · prizeB · liesB
- 2 ABABCC knackA · blueB · backA · tooB · eliteC · deceitC
- 3 -A-ABB here · smallA · idea · allA · tasteB · waistB
- 4 ABABCC fieldA · goB · yieldA · showB · lungC · youngC
- 5 ABABCC creedA · ownB · indeedA · aloneB · oddC · godC
- 6 ABAB-- triesA · wickednessB · riseA · lessB · see · indemnity
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Chinaman from early youth | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Is by his wise preceptors taught | 8 | ········ |
| To have no dealings with the Truth, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In fact, romancing is his 'forte.' | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| In juggling words he takes the prize, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By the sheer beauty of his lies. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For laundrywork he has a knack; | 8 | ········ |
| He takes in shirts and makes them blue; | 8 | ········ |
| When he omits to send them back | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He takes his customers in too. | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| He must be ranked in the 'elite' | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Of those whose hobby is deceit. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For ladies 'tis the fashion here | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To pinch their feet and make them small, | 8 | ········ |
| Which, to the civilised idea, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Is not a proper thing at all. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our modern Western woman's taste | 8 | //˘/˘/˘· |
| In pinching leans towards the waist. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Chinese Empire is the field | 8 | ·˘//˘··· |
| Where foreign missionaries go; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘· |
| A poor result their labours yield, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And they have little fruit to show; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For, if you would convert Wun Lung, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| You have to catch him very young. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Chinaman has got a creed | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And a religion of his own, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And would be much obliged indeed | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| If you could leave his soul alone; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And he prefers, which may seem odd, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| His own to other people's god. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Yet still the missionary tries | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| To point him out his wickedness, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Until the badgered natives rise,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And there's one missionary less! | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Then foreign Pow'rs step in, you see, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And ask for an indemnity. | 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.