Wealth
From what old ballad, or from what rich frameDid you descend to glorify the earth?Was it from Chaucer's singing book you came?Or did Watteau's small brushes give you birth?
Nothing so exquisite as that slight handCould Raphael or Leonardo trace.Nor could the poets know in FairylandThe changing wonder of your lyric face.
I would possess a host of lovely things,But I am poor and such joys may not be.So God who lifts the poor and humbles kingsSent loveliness itself to dwell with me.
Words in this poem
- glorify v. t.
- To make glorious by bestowing glory upon; to confer honor and distinction upon; to elevate to power or happiness, or to celestial glory. [F. glorifier, L. glorificare; gloria glory + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy.]
- fairyland n.
- The imaginary land or abode of fairies.
- humbles n.
- Entrails of a deer. Johnson. [See Nombles.]
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wealth 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, Wealth, in Trees and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #263, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kilmer-trees/wealth.html, id L12895.
Form and metre
Wealth is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 1 ABAB frameA · earthB · cameA · birthB
- 2 ABAB handA · traceB · fairylandA · faceB
- 3 ABAB thingsA · beB · kingsA · meB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From what old ballad, or from what rich frame | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Did you descend to glorify the earth? | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Was it from Chaucer's singing book you came? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Or did Watteau's small brushes give you birth? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nothing so exquisite as that slight hand | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Could Raphael or Leonardo trace. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Nor could the poets know in Fairyland | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The changing wonder of your lyric face. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| I would possess a host of lovely things, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| But I am poor and such joys may not be. | 10 | ·········· |
| So God who lifts the poor and humbles kings | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Sent loveliness itself to dwell with me. | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
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.