By a Sensitive Man
OH, there are timesWhen all this fret and tumult that we hearDo seem more stale than to the sexton's earHis own dull chimes.
Ding dong! ding dong!The world is in a simmer like a seaOver a pent volcano,--woe is meAll the day long!
From crib to shroud!Nurse o'er our cradles screameth lullaby,And friends in boots tramp round us as we die,Snuffling aloud.
At morning's callThe small-voiced pug-dog welcomes in the sun,And flea-bit mongrels, wakening one by one,Give answer all.
When evening dimDraws round us, then the lonely caterwaul,Tart solo, sour duet, and general squall,--These are our hymn.
Women, with tonguesLike polar needles, ever on the jar;Men, plugless word-spouts, whose deep fountains areWithin their lungs.
Children, with drumsStrapped round them by the fond paternal ass;Peripatetics with a blade of grassBetween their thumbs.
Vagrants, whose artsHave caged some devil in their mad machine,Which grinding, squeaks, with husky groans between,Come out by starts.
Cockneys that killThin horses of a Sunday,--men, with clams,Hoarse as young bisons roaring for their damsFrom hill to hill.
Soldiers, with guns,Making a nuisance of the blessed air,Child-crying bellmen, children in despair,Screeching for buns.
Storms, thunders, waves!Howl, crash, and bellow till ye get your fill;Ye sometimes rest; men never can be stillBut in their graves.
Words in this poem
- ding v. t.
- To dash; to throw violently. [OE. dingen, dengen; akin to AS. dencgan to knock, Icel. dengja to beat, hammer, Sw. dänga, G. dengeln.]
- simmer v. i.
- To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil. [Prov. E. also simper; -- an onomatopoetic word.]
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- lullaby n.
- A song to quiet babes or lull them to sleep; that which quiets. [From Lull, v. t.]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- wakening n.
- The act of one who wakens; esp., the act of ceasing to sleep; an awakening.
- caterwaul v. i.
- To cry as cats in rutting time; to make a harsh, offensive noise. Coleridge. [Cat + waul, wawl, to cry as a cat.]
- duet n.
- A composition for two performers, whether vocal or instrumental. [Duetto.]
- caged a.
- Confined in, or as in, a cage; like a cage or prison.
- husky a.
- Abounding with husks; consisting of husks. [From Husk, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
By a Sensitive Man is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes — Volume 01: Earlier Poems (1830-1836), Project Gutenberg ebook #7388; 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, By a Sensitive Man, in Poetical Works, Volume I (1830–1848), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7388, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/holmes-poems/by-a-sensitive-man.html, id L00464.
Form and metre
By a Sensitive Man is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 34% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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.
- 1 ABBA timesA · hearB · earB · chimesA
- 2 ABBA dongA · seaB · meB · longA
- 3 ABBA shroudA · lullabyB · dieB · aloudA
- 4 ABBA callA · sunB · oneB · allA
- 5 ABBA dimA · caterwaulB · squallB · hymnA
- 6 ABBA tonguesA · jarB · areB · lungsA
- 7 ABBA drumsA · assB · grassB · thumbsA
- 8 ABBA artsA · machineB · betweenB · startsA
- 9 ABBA killA · clamsB · damsB · hillA
- 10 ABBA gunsA · airB · despairB · bunsA
- 11 ABBA wavesA · fillB · stillB · gravesA
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 dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| OH, there are times | 4 | ···· |
| When all this fret and tumult that we hear | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Do seem more stale than to the sexton's ear | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His own dull chimes. | 4 | ···· |
| Ding dong! ding dong! | 4 | ···· |
| The world is in a simmer like a sea | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Over a pent volcano,--woe is me | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| All the day long! | 4 | ···· |
| From crib to shroud! | 4 | ···· |
| Nurse o'er our cradles screameth lullaby, | 10 | ··//˘/˘/˘· |
| And friends in boots tramp round us as we die, | 10 | ·········· |
| Snuffling aloud. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| At morning's call | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The small-voiced pug-dog welcomes in the sun, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And flea-bit mongrels, wakening one by one, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Give answer all. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When evening dim | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Draws round us, then the lonely caterwaul, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Tart solo, sour duet, and general squall,-- | 10 | ·/·/˘/·/˘· |
| These are our hymn. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Women, with tongues | 4 | /˘·· |
| Like polar needles, ever on the jar; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Men, plugless word-spouts, whose deep fountains are | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Within their lungs. | 4 | ···· |
| Children, with drums | 4 | /˘·· |
| Strapped round them by the fond paternal ass; | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Peripatetics with a blade of grass | 10 | ·˘˘/˘····· |
| Between their thumbs. | 4 | ···· |
| Vagrants, whose arts | 4 | /˘·· |
| Have caged some devil in their mad machine, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Which grinding, squeaks, with husky groans between, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Come out by starts. | 4 | ···· |
| Cockneys that kill | 4 | /˘·· |
| Thin horses of a Sunday,--men, with clams, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Hoarse as young bisons roaring for their dams | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| From hill to hill. | 4 | ···· |
| Soldiers, with guns, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Making a nuisance of the blessed air, | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘· |
| Child-crying bellmen, children in despair, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Screeching for buns. | 4 | /˘·· |
| Storms, thunders, waves! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Howl, crash, and bellow till ye get your fill; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ye sometimes rest; men never can be still | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| But in their graves. | 4 | ···· |
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.