Questioning
I AM not humble; I was shown my place,Clad in such robes as Nature had at hand;Took what she gave, not chose; I know no shame,No fear for being simply what I am.I am not proud, I hold my every breathAt Nature's mercy. I am as a babeBorne in a giant's arms, he knows not where;Each several heart-beat, counted like the coinA miser reckons, is a special giftAs from an unseen hand; if that withholdIts bounty for a moment, I am leftA clod upon the earth to which I fall.
Something I find in me that well might claimThe love of beings in a sphere aboveThis doubtful twilight world of right and wrong;Something that shows me of the self-same clayThat creeps or swims or flies in humblest form.Had I been asked, before I left my bedOf shapeless dust, what clothing I would wear,I would have said, More angel and less worm;But for their sake who are even such as I,Of the same mingled blood, I would not chooseTo hate that meaner portion of myselfWhich makes me brother to the least of men.
I dare not be a coward with my lipsWho dare to question all things in my soul;Some men may find their wisdom on their knees,Some prone and grovelling in the dust like slaves;Let the meek glowworm glisten in the dew;I ask to lift my taper to the skyAs they who hold their lamps above their heads,Trusting the larger currents up aloft,Rather than crossing eddies round their breast,Threatening with every puff the flickering blaze.
My life shall be a challenge, not a truce!This is my homage to the mightier powers,To ask my boldest question, undismayedBy muttered threats that some hysteric senseOf wrong or insult will convulse the throneWhere wisdom reigns supreme; and if I err,They all must err who have to feel their wayAs bats that fly at noon; for what are weBut creatures of the night, dragged forth by day,Who needs must stumble, and with stammering stepsSpell out their paths in syllables of pain?
Thou wilt not hold in scorn the child who daresLook up to Thee, the Father,--dares to askMore than thy wisdom answers. From thy handThe worlds were cast; yet every leaflet claimsFrom that same hand its little shining sphereOf star-lit dew; thine image, the great sun,Girt with his mantle of tempestuous flame,Glares in mid-heaven; but to his noon-tide blazeThe slender violet lifts its lidless eye,And from his splendor steals its fairest hue,Its sweetest perfume from his scorching fire.
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
- glowworm n.
- A coleopterous insect of the genus Lampyris; esp., the wingless females and larvæ of the two European species (L. noctiluca, and L.
- 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,]
- hysteric a.
- Of or pertaining to hysteria; affected, or troubled, with hysterics; convulsive, fitful. [L. hystericus, Gr. utter, out.]
- convulse v. t.
- To contract violently and irregulary, as the muscular parts of an animal body; to shake with irregular spasms, as in excessive laughter, or in agony from grief or pain. [L. convulsus, p.p. of convellere to tear up, to shake; con- + vellere to pluck, pull.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- lidless a.
- Having no lid, or not covered with the lids, as the eyes; hence, sleepless; watchful.
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Questioning 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, Questioning, in Poems from the Breakfast-Table Series (1858), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7393, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/holmes-breakfast-table-poems/questioning.html, id L23588.
Form and metre
Questioning is 56 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See 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.
- 4 ------A-A-- truce · powers · undismayed · sense · throne · err · wayA · we · dayA · steps · pain
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I AM not humble; I was shown my place, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Clad in such robes as Nature had at hand; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Took what she gave, not chose; I know no shame, | 10 | ·········· |
| No fear for being simply what I am. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I am not proud, I hold my every breath | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| At Nature's mercy. I am as a babe | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Borne in a giant's arms, he knows not where; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Each several heart-beat, counted like the coin | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A miser reckons, is a special gift | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| As from an unseen hand; if that withhold | 10 | ···˘/···˘/ |
| Its bounty for a moment, I am left | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| A clod upon the earth to which I fall. | 10 | ·········· |
| Something I find in me that well might claim | 10 | /˘········ |
| The love of beings in a sphere above | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| This doubtful twilight world of right and wrong; | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Something that shows me of the self-same clay | 10 | /˘········ |
| That creeps or swims or flies in humblest form. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Had I been asked, before I left my bed | 10 | ·········· |
| Of shapeless dust, what clothing I would wear, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I would have said, More angel and less worm; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But for their sake who are even such as I, | 10 | ······/··· |
| Of the same mingled blood, I would not choose | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To hate that meaner portion of myself | 10 | ···/˘/˘··/ |
| Which makes me brother to the least of men. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I dare not be a coward with my lips | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who dare to question all things in my soul; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Some men may find their wisdom on their knees, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Some prone and grovelling in the dust like slaves; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Let the meek glowworm glisten in the dew; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I ask to lift my taper to the sky | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As they who hold their lamps above their heads, | 10 | ·········· |
| Trusting the larger currents up aloft, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Rather than crossing eddies round their breast, | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Threatening with every puff the flickering blaze. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| My life shall be a challenge, not a truce! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| This is my homage to the mightier powers, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘/ |
| To ask my boldest question, undismayed | 10 | ···/˘/˘··˘ |
| By muttered threats that some hysteric sense | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Of wrong or insult will convulse the throne | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| Where wisdom reigns supreme; and if I err, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| They all must err who have to feel their way | 10 | ·········· |
| As bats that fly at noon; for what are we | 10 | ·········· |
| But creatures of the night, dragged forth by day, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Who needs must stumble, and with stammering steps | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Spell out their paths in syllables of pain? | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Thou wilt not hold in scorn the child who dares | 10 | ·········· |
| Look up to Thee, the Father,--dares to ask | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| More than thy wisdom answers. From thy hand | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| The worlds were cast; yet every leaflet claims | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| From that same hand its little shining sphere | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Of star-lit dew; thine image, the great sun, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Girt with his mantle of tempestuous flame, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Glares in mid-heaven; but to his noon-tide blaze | 10 | ···/······ |
| The slender violet lifts its lidless eye, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And from his splendor steals its fairest hue, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Its sweetest perfume from his scorching fire. | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘/˘ |
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.