Latter-Day Warnings
WHEN legislators keep the law,When banks dispense with bolts and looks,When berries--whortle, rasp, and straw--Grow bigger downwards through the box,--
When he that selleth house or landShows leak in roof or flaw in right,--When haberdashers choose the standWhose window hath the broadest light,--
When preachers tell us all they think,And party leaders all they mean,--When what we pay for, that we drink,From real grape and coffee-bean,--
When lawyers take what they would give,And doctors give what they would take,--When city fathers eat to live,Save when they fast for conscience' sake,--
When one that hath a horse on saleShall bring his merit to the proof,Without a lie for every nailThat holds the iron on the hoof,--
When in the usual place for ripsOur gloves are stitched with special care,And guarded well the whalebone tipsWhere first umbrellas need repair,--
When Cuba's weeds have quite forgotThe power of suction to resist,And claret-bottles harbor notSuch dimples as would hold your fist,--
When publishers no longer steal,And pay for what they stole before,--When the first locomotive's wheelRolls through the Hoosac Tunnel's bore;--
Till then let Cumming blaze away,And Miller's saints blow up the globe;But when you see that blessed day,Then order your ascension robe.
Words in this poem
- dispense v. i.
- To compensate; to make up; to make amends.
- bigger a.
- , compar. of Big.
- 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,]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- ascension n.
- The act of ascending; a rising; ascent. [F. ascension, L. ascensio, fr. ascendere. See Ascend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Latter-Day Warnings is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes — Volume 06 Poems from the Breakfast Table Series, Project Gutenberg ebook #7393; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Latter-Day Warnings, in Poems from the Breakfast-Table Series (1858), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7393, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/holmes-breakfast-table-poems/latter-day-warnings.html, id L23562.
Form and metre
Latter-Day Warnings is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 8 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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- lawA · looks · strawA · box
- 2 ABAB landA · rightB · standA · lightB
- 3 ABAB thinkA · meanB · drinkA · beanB
- 4 ABAB giveA · takeB · liveA · sakeB
- 5 ABAB saleA · proofB · nailA · hoofB
- 6 ABAB ripsA · careB · tipsA · repairB
- 7 ABAB forgotA · resistB · notA · fistB
- 8 ABAB stealA · beforeB · wheelA · boreB
- 9 ABAB awayA · globeB · dayA · robeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| WHEN legislators keep the law, | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| When banks dispense with bolts and looks, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| When berries--whortle, rasp, and straw-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Grow bigger downwards through the box,-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When he that selleth house or land | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Shows leak in roof or flaw in right,-- | 8 | ········ |
| When haberdashers choose the stand | 8 | ········ |
| Whose window hath the broadest light,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When preachers tell us all they think, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And party leaders all they mean,-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When what we pay for, that we drink, | 8 | ········ |
| From real grape and coffee-bean,-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| When lawyers take what they would give, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And doctors give what they would take,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When city fathers eat to live, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Save when they fast for conscience' sake,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When one that hath a horse on sale | 8 | ········ |
| Shall bring his merit to the proof, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Without a lie for every nail | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That holds the iron on the hoof,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When in the usual place for rips | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Our gloves are stitched with special care, | 8 | /····/˘· |
| And guarded well the whalebone tips | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where first umbrellas need repair,-- | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| When Cuba's weeds have quite forgot | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The power of suction to resist, | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| And claret-bottles harbor not | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Such dimples as would hold your fist,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When publishers no longer steal, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And pay for what they stole before,-- | 8 | ········ |
| When the first locomotive's wheel | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Rolls through the Hoosac Tunnel's bore;-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till then let Cumming blaze away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And Miller's saints blow up the globe; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But when you see that blessed day, | 8 | ······˘· |
| Then order your ascension robe. | 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.