Patience
A WIND comes from the northBlowing little flocks of birdsLike spray across the town,And a train, roaring forth,Rushes stampeding downWith cries and flying curdsOf steam, out of the darkening north.
Whither I turn and setLike a needle steadfastly,Waiting ever to getThe news that she is free;But ever fixed, as yet,To the lode of her agony.
Words in this poem
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- steadfastly adv.
- In a steadfast manner; firmly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Patience is in the public domain. This text is taken from Amores: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #22531; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: D. H. Lawrence, Patience, in Amores (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22531, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawrence-amores/patience.html, id L13562.
Form and metre
Patience is 13 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABCACBA northA · birdsB · townC · forthA · downC · curdsB · northA
- 2 A-A-A- setA · steadfastly · getA · free · yetA · agony
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A WIND comes from the north | 6 | ······ |
| Blowing little flocks of birds | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Like spray across the town, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| And a train, roaring forth, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Rushes stampeding down | 6 | /˘˘/˘· |
| With cries and flying curds | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of steam, out of the darkening north. | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Whither I turn and set | 6 | /˘···· |
| Like a needle steadfastly, | 7 | ··/˘/·˘ |
| Waiting ever to get | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| The news that she is free; | 6 | ······ |
| But ever fixed, as yet, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To the lode of her agony. | 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.