To R. L. S
A CHILD,Curious and innocent,Slips from his Nurse, and rejoicingLoses himself in the Fair.
Thro’ the jostle and dinWandering, he revels,Dreaming, desiring, possessing;Till, of a suddenTired and afraid, he beholdsThe sordid assemblageJust as it is; and he runsWith a sob to his Nurse(Lighting at last on him),And in her motherly bosomCries him to sleep.
Thus thro’ the World,Seeing and feeling and knowing,Goes Man: till at last,Tired of experience, he turnsTo the friendly and comforting breastOf the old nurse, Death.
Words in this poem
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- sordid a.
- Filthy; foul; dirty. [L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See Swart, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To R. L. S is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1568; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. E. Henley, To R. L. S, in Poems (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1568, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/henley-poems/to-r-l-s.html, id L12412.
Form and metre
To R. L. S is 21 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is dactylic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.3 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 48% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in dactylic dimeter.
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.
- 2 A--A----BB- dinA · revels · possessing · suddenA · beholds · assemblage · runs · nurse · himB · bosomB · sleep
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 dactylic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A CHILD, | 2 | ·· |
| Curious and innocent, | 7 | /˘˘·/˘˘ |
| Slips from his Nurse, and rejoicing | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Loses himself in the Fair. | 7 | /˘˘/··· |
| Thro’ the jostle and din | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Wandering, he revels, | 6 | /˘˘·/˘ |
| Dreaming, desiring, possessing; | 9 | /˘˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Till, of a sudden | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Tired and afraid, he beholds | 8 | /˘·˘/·˘/ |
| The sordid assemblage | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| Just as it is; and he runs | 7 | ······· |
| With a sob to his Nurse | 6 | ······ |
| (Lighting at last on him), | 6 | /˘···· |
| And in her motherly bosom | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Cries him to sleep. | 4 | ···· |
| Thus thro’ the World, | 4 | ···· |
| Seeing and feeling and knowing, | 8 | /˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Goes Man: till at last, | 5 | ····· |
| Tired of experience, he turns | 8 | /·˘/˘˘·· |
| To the friendly and comforting breast | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Of the old nurse, Death. | 5 | ····· |
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.