An Argument
We find your soft Utopias as whiteAs new-cut bread, and dull as life in cells,O, scribes who dare forget how wild we areHow human breasts adore alarum bells.You house us in a hive of prigs and saintsCommunal, frugal, clean and chaste by law.I'd rather brood in bloody ElsinoreOr be Lear's fool, straw-crowned amid the straw.Promise us all our share in AgincourtSay that our clerks shall venture scorns and death,That future ant-hills will not be too goodFor Henry Fifth, or Hotspur, or Macbeth.Promise that through to-morrow's spirit-warMan's deathless soul will hack and hew its way,Each flaunting Caesar climbing to his fateScorning the utmost steps of yesterday.Never a shallow jester any more!Let not Jack Falstaff spill the ale in vain.Let Touchstone set the fashions for the wiseAnd Ariel wreak his fancies through the rain.
Words in this poem
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- communal a.
- Pertaining to a commune. [Cf. F. communal.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- hotspur n.
- A rash, hot-headed man. Holinshed. [Hot + spur.]
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
- touchstone n.
- Lydian stone; basanite; -- so called because used to test the purity of gold and silver by the streak which is left upon the stone when it is rubbed by the metal. See Basanite.
- wreak v. i.
- To reck; to care.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Argument is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Congo, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vachel Lindsay, An Argument, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/an-argument.html, id L00948.
Form and metre
An Argument is 20 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 45% 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 -A-A-BCB-D-DCE-ECF-F white · cellsA · are · bellsA · saints · lawB · elsinoreC · strawB · agincourt · deathD · good · macbethD · warC · wayE · fate · yesterdayE · moreC · vainF · wise · rainF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We find your soft Utopias as white | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| As new-cut bread, and dull as life in cells, | 10 | ·········· |
| O, scribes who dare forget how wild we are | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| How human breasts adore alarum bells. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| You house us in a hive of prigs and saints | 10 | ·········· |
| Communal, frugal, clean and chaste by law. | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| I'd rather brood in bloody Elsinore | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Or be Lear's fool, straw-crowned amid the straw. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Promise us all our share in Agincourt | 10 | /˘··/··/˘· |
| Say that our clerks shall venture scorns and death, | 10 | ··/··/˘··· |
| That future ant-hills will not be too good | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| For Henry Fifth, or Hotspur, or Macbeth. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Promise that through to-morrow's spirit-war | 9 | /˘···/˘/· |
| Man's deathless soul will hack and hew its way, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Each flaunting Caesar climbing to his fate | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Scorning the utmost steps of yesterday. | 10 | /˘·/···/˘· |
| Never a shallow jester any more! | 9 | /·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Let not Jack Falstaff spill the ale in vain. | 10 | ···/······ |
| Let Touchstone set the fashions for the wise | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And Ariel wreak his fancies through the rain. | 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.