Nothing and Something
It is nothing to me, the beauty said,With a careless toss of her pretty head;The man is weak if he can't refrainFrom the cup you say is fraught with pain.It was something to her in after years,When her eyes were drenched with burningtears,And she watched in lonely grief and dread,And startled to hear a staggering tread.
It is nothing to me, the mother said;I have no fear that my boy will treadIn the downward path of sin and shame,And crush my heart and darken his name.It was something to her when that only sonFrom the path of right was early won,And madly cast in the flowing bowlA ruined body and sin-wrecked soul.
It is nothing to me, the young man cried:In his eye was a flash of scorn and pride;I heed not the dreadful things ye tell:I can rule myself I know full well.
Words in this poem
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nothing and Something is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #679; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Nothing and Something, in Poems (1854–1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #679, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/harper-poems/nothing-and-something.html, id L10578.
Form and metre
Nothing and Something is 21 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 AABBC-CAA saidA · headA · refrainB · painB · yearsC · burning · tearsC · dreadA · treadA
- 2 AABBCCDD saidA · treadA · shameB · nameB · sonC · wonC · bowlD · soulD
- 3 AABB criedA · prideA · tellB · wellB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It is nothing to me, the beauty said, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| With a careless toss of her pretty head; | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| The man is weak if he can't refrain | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| From the cup you say is fraught with pain. | 9 | ········· |
| It was something to her in after years, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| When her eyes were drenched with burning | 8 | ······/˘ |
| tears, | 1 | · |
| And she watched in lonely grief and dread, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And startled to hear a staggering tread. | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| It is nothing to me, the mother said; | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| I have no fear that my boy will tread | 9 | ········· |
| In the downward path of sin and shame, | 8 | ··/····· |
| And crush my heart and darken his name. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| It was something to her when that only son | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| From the path of right was early won, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And madly cast in the flowing bowl | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| A ruined body and sin-wrecked soul. | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| It is nothing to me, the young man cried: | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| In his eye was a flash of scorn and pride; | 10 | ·········· |
| I heed not the dreadful things ye tell: | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| I can rule myself I know full well. | 9 | ····/···· |
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.