Idle Words
They say that every idle wordIs numbered by the Omniscient Lord.O Parliament! 'tis well that HeEndureth for Eternity,And that a thousand Angels waitTo write them at thy inner gate.
Words in this poem
- omniscient a.
- Having universal knowledge; knowing all things; infinitely knowing or wise; as, the omniscient God. [Omni- + L. sciens, -entis, p. pr. of scire to know: cf. F. omniscient. See Science.]
- parliament n.
- A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Idle Words is in the public domain. This text is taken from Imaginary Conversations and Poems: A Selection, Project Gutenberg ebook #21628; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walter Savage Landor, Idle Words, in Imaginary Conversations and Poems (1795–1863), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21628, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/landor-poems/idle-words.html, id L12213.
Form and metre
Idle Words is 6 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ----AA word · lord · he · eternity · waitA · gateA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They say that every idle word | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is numbered by the Omniscient Lord. | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| O Parliament! 'tis well that He | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Endureth for Eternity, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| And that a thousand Angels wait | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To write them at thy inner gate. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.