The Poet's Portion
What is a mine--a treasury--a dower--A magic talisman of mighty power?A poet's wide possession of the earth.He has th' enjoyment of a flower's birthBefore its budding--ere the first red streaks,--And Winter cannot rob him of their cheeks.
Look--if his dawn be not as other men's!Twenty bright flushes--ere another kensThe first of sunlight is abroad--he seesIts golden 'lection of the topmost trees,And opes the splendid fissures of the morn.
When do his fruits delay, when doth his cornLinger for harvesting? Before the leafIs commonly abroad, in his piled sheafThe flagging poppies lose their ancient flame.No sweet there is, no pleasure I can name,But he will sip it first--before the lees.'Tis his to taste rich honey,--ere the beesAre busy with the brooms. He may forestallJune's rosy advent for his coronal;Before th' expectant buds upon the bough,Twining his thoughts to bloom upon his brow.
Oh! blest to see the flower in its seed,Before its leafy presence; for indeedLeaves are but wings on which the summer flies,And each thing perishable fades and dies,Escap'd in thought; but his rich thinkings beLike overflows of immortality:So that what there is steep'd shall perish never,But live and bloom, and be a joy forever.
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- flagging n.
- A pavement or sidewalk of flagstones; flagstones, collectively.
- forestall v. t.
- To take beforehand, or in advance; to anticipate. [OE. forstallen to stop, to obstruct; to stop (goods) on the way to the market by buying them beforehand, from forstal obstruction, AS. forsteal, foresteall, pro]
- coronal a.
- Of or pertaining to a corona (in any of the senses). [L. coronalis: cf. F. coronal.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Poet's Portion is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, The Poet's Portion, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/the-poet-s-portion.html, id L20076.
Form and metre
The Poet's Portion is 30 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 73% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 --AABB dower · power · earthA · birthA · streaksB · cheeksB
- 2 AABB- men'sA · kensA · seesB · treesB · morn
- 3 -AABBCC--DD corn · leafA · sheafA · flameB · nameB · leesC · beesC · forestall · coronal · boughD · browD
- 4 AABB--CC seedA · indeedA · fliesB · diesB · be · immortality · neverC · foreverC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What is a mine--a treasury--a dower-- | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| A magic talisman of mighty power? | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| A poet's wide possession of the earth. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| He has th' enjoyment of a flower's birth | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Before its budding--ere the first red streaks,-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And Winter cannot rob him of their cheeks. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Look--if his dawn be not as other men's! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Twenty bright flushes--ere another kens | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| The first of sunlight is abroad--he sees | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| Its golden 'lection of the topmost trees, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And opes the splendid fissures of the morn. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| When do his fruits delay, when doth his corn | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Linger for harvesting? Before the leaf | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| Is commonly abroad, in his piled sheaf | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| The flagging poppies lose their ancient flame. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| No sweet there is, no pleasure I can name, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But he will sip it first--before the lees. | 10 | ·········· |
| 'Tis his to taste rich honey,--ere the bees | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Are busy with the brooms. He may forestall | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| June's rosy advent for his coronal; | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘˘ |
| Before th' expectant buds upon the bough, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Twining his thoughts to bloom upon his brow. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Oh! blest to see the flower in its seed, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Before its leafy presence; for indeed | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Leaves are but wings on which the summer flies, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And each thing perishable fades and dies, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘··· |
| Escap'd in thought; but his rich thinkings be | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Like overflows of immortality: | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| So that what there is steep'd shall perish never, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| But live and bloom, and be a joy forever. | 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.