The Progress of Art
Oh happy time!--Art's early days!When o'er each deed, with sweet self-praise,Narcissus-like I hung!When great Rembrandt but little seemed,And such Old Masters all were deemedAs nothing to the young!
Some scratchy strokes--abrupt and few,So easily and swift I drew,Sufficed for my design;My sketchy, superficial handDrew solids at a dash--and spannedA surface with a line.
Not long my eye was thus content,But grew more critical--my bentEssayed a higher walk;I copied leaden eyes in lead--Rheumatic hands in white and red,And gouty feet--in chalk.
Anon my studious art for daysKept making faces--happy phrase,For faces such as mine!Accomplished in the details then,I left the minor parts of men,And drew the form divine.
Old Gods and Heroes--Trojan--Greek,Figures--long after the antique,Great Ajax justly feared;Hectors, of whom at night I dreamt,And Nestor, fringed enough to temptBird-nesters to his beard.
A Bacchus, leering on a bowl,A Pallas that out-stared her owl,A Vulcan--very lame;A Dian stuck about with stars,With my right hand I murdered Mars--(One Williams did the same).
But tired of this dry work at last,Crayon and chalk aside I cast,And gave my brush a drink!Dipping--"as when a painter dipsIn gloom of earthquake and eclipse,"--That is--in Indian ink.
Oh then, what black Mont Blancs arose,Crested with soot, and not with snows:What clouds of dingy hue!In spite of what the bard has penned,I fear the distance did not "lendEnchantment to the view."
Not Radcliffe's brush did e'er designBlack Forests half so black as mine,Or lakes so like a pall;The Chinese cake dispersed a rayOf darkness, like the light of DayAnd Martin over all.
Yet urchin pride sustained me still,I gazed on all with right good will,And spread the dingy tint;"No holy Luke helped me to paint,The devil surely, not a Saint,Had any finger in't!"
But colors came!--like morning light,With gorgeous hues, displacing night,Or Spring's enlivened scene:At once the sable shades withdrew;My skies got very, very blue;My trees extremely green.
And washed by my cosmetic brush,How Beauty's cheek began to blush;With lock of auburn stain--(Not Goldsmith's Auburn)--nut-brown hair,That made her loveliest of the fair;Not "loveliest of the plain!"
Her lips were of vermilion hue:Love in her eyes, and Prussian blue,Set all my heart in flame!A young Pygmalion, I adoredThe maids I made--but time was storedWith evil--and it came!
Perspective dawned--and soon I sawMy houses stand against its law;And "keeping" all unkept!My beauties were no longer thingsFor love and fond imaginings;But horrors to be wept!
Ah! why did knowledge ope my eyes?Why did I get more artist wise?It only serves to hint,What grave defects and wants are mine;That I'm no Hilton in design--In nature no De Wint!
Thrice happy time!--Art's early days!When o'er each deed, with sweet self-praise,Narcissus-like I hung!When great Rembrandt but little seemed,And such Old Masters all were deemedAs nothing to the young!
Words in this poem
- scratchy a.
- Characterized by scratches.
- sketchy a.
- Containing only an outline or rough form; being in the manner of a sketch; incomplete.
- rheumatic a.
- Derived from, or having the character of, rheum; rheumic. [Gr. rheumaticus, F. rhumatique. See Rheum, Rheumatism.]
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- nestor n.
- A genus of parrots with gray heads. of New Zeland and papua, allied to the cockatoos. See Kaka.
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
- penned a.
- Winged; having plumes.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- auburn a.
- Flaxen-colored. Florio. [OE. auburne blonde, OF. alborne, auborne, fr. LL. alburnus whitish, fr. L. albus white. Cf. Alburn.]
- perspective a.
- Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. [L. perspicere, perspectum, to look through; per + spicere, specere, to look: cf. F. perspectif; or from E. perspective, n. See Spy, n.]
- artist n.
- One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Progress of Art 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 Progress of Art, 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-progress-of-art.html, id L20200.
Form and metre
The Progress of Art is 96 lines in 16 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 14 of its 16 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABCCB daysA · praiseA · hungB · seemedC · deemedC · youngB
- 2 AABCCB fewA · drewA · designB · handC · spannedC · lineB
- 3 AABCCB contentA · bentA · walkB · leadC · redC · chalkB
- 4 AABCCB daysA · phraseA · mineB · thenC · menC · divineB
- 5 AAB--B greekA · antiqueA · fearedB · dreamt · tempt · beardB
- 6 --ABBA bowl · owl · lameA · starsB · marsB · sameA
- 7 AABCCB lastA · castA · drinkB · dipsC · eclipseC · inkB
- 8 AABCCB aroseA · snowsA · hueB · pennedC · lendC · viewB
- 9 AABCCB designA · mineA · pallB · rayC · dayC · allB
- 10 AABCCB stillA · willA · tintB · paintC · saintC · in'tB
- 11 AABCCB lightA · nightA · sceneB · withdrewC · blueC · greenB
- 12 AABCCB brushA · blushA · stainB · hairC · fairC · plainB
- 13 AABCCB hueA · blueA · flameB · adoredC · storedC · cameB
- 14 AABCCB sawA · lawA · unkeptB · thingsC · imaginingsC · weptB
- 15 AABCCB eyesA · wiseA · hintB · mineC · designC · wintB
- 16 AABCCB daysA · praiseA · hungB · seemedC · deemedC · youngB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh happy time!--Art's early days! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When o'er each deed, with sweet self-praise, | 8 | ········ |
| Narcissus-like I hung! | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| When great Rembrandt but little seemed, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| And such Old Masters all were deemed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As nothing to the young! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Some scratchy strokes--abrupt and few, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| So easily and swift I drew, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Sufficed for my design; | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| My sketchy, superficial hand | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Drew solids at a dash--and spanned | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A surface with a line. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Not long my eye was thus content, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But grew more critical--my bent | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Essayed a higher walk; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| I copied leaden eyes in lead-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Rheumatic hands in white and red, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| And gouty feet--in chalk. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Anon my studious art for days | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Kept making faces--happy phrase, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| For faces such as mine! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Accomplished in the details then, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| I left the minor parts of men, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And drew the form divine. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Old Gods and Heroes--Trojan--Greek, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Figures--long after the antique, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Great Ajax justly feared; | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| Hectors, of whom at night I dreamt, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And Nestor, fringed enough to tempt | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Bird-nesters to his beard. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A Bacchus, leering on a bowl, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A Pallas that out-stared her owl, | 8 | ········ |
| A Vulcan--very lame; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| A Dian stuck about with stars, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With my right hand I murdered Mars-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (One Williams did the same). | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But tired of this dry work at last, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Crayon and chalk aside I cast, | 8 | /···˘/·· |
| And gave my brush a drink! | 6 | ······ |
| Dipping--"as when a painter dips | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| In gloom of earthquake and eclipse,"-- | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| That is--in Indian ink. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Oh then, what black Mont Blancs arose, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Crested with soot, and not with snows: | 8 | /˘······ |
| What clouds of dingy hue! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In spite of what the bard has penned, | 8 | ········ |
| I fear the distance did not "lend | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Enchantment to the view." | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Not Radcliffe's brush did e'er design | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Black Forests half so black as mine, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Or lakes so like a pall; | 6 | ······ |
| The Chinese cake dispersed a ray | 8 | ·˘/·˘/·· |
| Of darkness, like the light of Day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And Martin over all. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yet urchin pride sustained me still, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| I gazed on all with right good will, | 8 | ········ |
| And spread the dingy tint; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "No holy Luke helped me to paint, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The devil surely, not a Saint, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Had any finger in't!" | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| But colors came!--like morning light, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With gorgeous hues, displacing night, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Or Spring's enlivened scene: | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| At once the sable shades withdrew; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| My skies got very, very blue; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| My trees extremely green. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| And washed by my cosmetic brush, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| How Beauty's cheek began to blush; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| With lock of auburn stain-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| (Not Goldsmith's Auburn)--nut-brown hair, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| That made her loveliest of the fair; | 9 | ········· |
| Not "loveliest of the plain!" | 7 | ······· |
| Her lips were of vermilion hue: | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Love in her eyes, and Prussian blue, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Set all my heart in flame! | 6 | ······ |
| A young Pygmalion, I adored | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The maids I made--but time was stored | 8 | ········ |
| With evil--and it came! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Perspective dawned--and soon I saw | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| My houses stand against its law; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And "keeping" all unkept! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My beauties were no longer things | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For love and fond imaginings; | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| But horrors to be wept! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ah! why did knowledge ope my eyes? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Why did I get more artist wise? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It only serves to hint, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| What grave defects and wants are mine; | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| That I'm no Hilton in design-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In nature no De Wint! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Thrice happy time!--Art's early days! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When o'er each deed, with sweet self-praise, | 8 | ········ |
| Narcissus-like I hung! | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| When great Rembrandt but little seemed, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| And such Old Masters all were deemed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As nothing to the young! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.