Pennies
A few long-hoarded pennies in his handBehold him stand;A kilted Hedonist, perplexed and sad.The joy that once he had,The first delight of ownership is fled.He bows his little head.Ah, cruel Time, to killThat splendid thrill!
Then in his tear-dimmed eyesNew lights arise.He drops his treasured pennies on the ground,They roll and boundAnd scattered, rest.Now with what zestHe runs to find his errant wealth again!
So unto menDoth God, depriving that He may bestow.Fame, health and money go,But that they may, new found, be newly sweet.Yea, at His feetSit, waiting us, to their concealment bid,All they, our lovers, whom His Love hath hid.
Lo, comfort blooms on pain, and peace on strife,And gain on loss.What is the key to Everlasting Life?A blood-stained Cross.
Words in this poem
- kilted a.
- Having on a kilt.
- hedonist n.
- One who believes in hedonism.
- zest n.
- A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
- errant n.
- One who wanders about. Fuller.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pennies is in the public domain. This text is taken from Trees, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #263; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Joyce Kilmer, Pennies, in Trees and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #263, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kilmer-trees/pennies.html, id L12889.
Form and metre
Pennies is 26 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDD handA · standA · sadB · hadB · fledC · headC · killD · thrillD
- 2 AABBCC- eyesA · ariseA · groundB · boundB · restC · zestC · again
- 3 -AABBCC men · bestowA · goA · sweetB · feetB · bidC · hidC
- 4 ABAB strifeA · lossB · lifeA · crossB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A few long-hoarded pennies in his hand | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Behold him stand; | 4 | ˘/·· |
| A kilted Hedonist, perplexed and sad. | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/·· |
| The joy that once he had, | 6 | ······ |
| The first delight of ownership is fled. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| He bows his little head. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ah, cruel Time, to kill | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That splendid thrill! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Then in his tear-dimmed eyes | 6 | ······ |
| New lights arise. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| He drops his treasured pennies on the ground, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| They roll and bound | 4 | ···· |
| And scattered, rest. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Now with what zest | 4 | ···· |
| He runs to find his errant wealth again! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| So unto men | 4 | ···· |
| Doth God, depriving that He may bestow. | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Fame, health and money go, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But that they may, new found, be newly sweet. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Yea, at His feet | 4 | ···· |
| Sit, waiting us, to their concealment bid, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| All they, our lovers, whom His Love hath hid. | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Lo, comfort blooms on pain, and peace on strife, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And gain on loss. | 4 | ···· |
| What is the key to Everlasting Life? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| A blood-stained Cross. | 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.