Italy
In Italy the sky is blue;The native loafs and lolls about,He's nothing in the world to do,And does it fairly well, no doubt;(Ital-i-ans are disinclinedTo honest work of any kind).
A light Chianti wine he drinks,And fancies it extremely good;(It tastes like Stephens' Blue-black Inks);--While macaroni is his food.(I think it must be rather hardTo eat one's breakfast by the yard).
And, when he leaves his country forSome northern climate, 'tis his dreamTo be an organ grinder, orRetail bacilli in ice-cream.(The French or German student termsThese creatures 'Parisites' or 'Germs.')
Sometimes an anarchist is he,And wants to slay a king or queen;So with some dynamite, may be,Concocts a murderous machine;'Here goes!' he shouts, 'For Freedom's sake!'Then blows himself up by mistake.
Naples and Florence both repayA visit, and, if fortune takesYour toddling little feet that way,Do stop a moment at The Lakes.While, should you go to Rome, I hopeYou'll leave your card upon the Pope.
Words in this poem
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- macaroni n.
- Long slender tubes made of a paste chiefly of wheat flour, and used as an article of food; Italian or Genoese paste.
- grinder n.
- One who, or that which, grinds.
- anarchist n.
- An anarch; one who advocates anarchy of aims at the overthrow of civil government. [Cf. F. anarchiste.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Italy 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, Italy, in Verse and Worse (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36702, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graham-verse-and-worse/italy.html, id L23307.
Form and metre
Italy is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 blueA · aboutB · doA · doubtB · disinclinedC · kindC
- 2 A-A-BB drinksA · good · inksA · food · hardB · yardB
- 3 ABABCC forA · dreamB · orA · creamB · termsC · germsC
- 4 ABABCC heA · queenB · beA · machineB · sakeC · mistakeC
- 5 ABABCC repayA · takesB · wayA · lakesB · hopeC · popeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In Italy the sky is blue; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| The native loafs and lolls about, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| He's nothing in the world to do, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And does it fairly well, no doubt; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| (Ital-i-ans are disinclined | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To honest work of any kind). | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A light Chianti wine he drinks, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And fancies it extremely good; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| (It tastes like Stephens' Blue-black Inks);-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While macaroni is his food. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| (I think it must be rather hard | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To eat one's breakfast by the yard). | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, when he leaves his country for | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Some northern climate, 'tis his dream | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To be an organ grinder, or | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Retail bacilli in ice-cream. | 8 | /······· |
| (The French or German student terms | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| These creatures 'Parisites' or 'Germs.') | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sometimes an anarchist is he, | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| And wants to slay a king or queen; | 8 | ········ |
| So with some dynamite, may be, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Concocts a murderous machine; | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘˘/ |
| 'Here goes!' he shouts, 'For Freedom's sake!' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Then blows himself up by mistake. | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Naples and Florence both repay | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| A visit, and, if fortune takes | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Your toddling little feet that way, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Do stop a moment at The Lakes. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While, should you go to Rome, I hope | 8 | ········ |
| You'll leave your card upon the Pope. | 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.