On Suddenly Receiving a Curl Long Refused
Oh, saucy gold circle of fairyland silk--Impudent, intimate, delicate treasure:A noose for my heart and a ring for my finger:--Here in my study you sing me a measure.
Whimsy and song in my little gray study!Words out of wonderland, praising her fineness,Touched with her pulsating, delicate laughter,Saying, "The girl is all daring and kindness!"
Saying, "Her soul is all feminine gameness,Trusting her insights, ardent for living;She would be weeping with me and be laughing,A thoroughbred, joyous receiving and giving!"
Words in this poem
- fairyland n.
- The imaginary land or abode of fairies.
- whimsy n.
- A whim; a freak; a capricious notion, a fanciful or odd conceit. [See Whim.]
- wonderland n.
- A land full of wonders, or marvels. M. Arnold.
- gameness n.
- Endurance; pluck.
- thoroughbred a.
- Bred from the best blood through a long line; pure-blooded; -- said of stock, as horses. Hence, having the characteristics of such breeding; mettlesome; courageous; of elegant form, or the like.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Suddenly Receiving a Curl Long Refused 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, On Suddenly Receiving a Curl Long Refused, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/on-suddenly-receiving-a-curl-long-refused.html, id L00976.
Form and metre
On Suddenly Receiving a Curl Long Refused is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is dactylic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.8 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in dactylic 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 -A-A silk · treasureA · finger · measureA
- 2 -A-A study · finenessA · laughter · kindnessA
- 3 -A-A gameness · livingA · laughing · givingA
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 dactylic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, saucy gold circle of fairyland silk-- | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Impudent, intimate, delicate treasure: | 11 | /˘˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| A noose for my heart and a ring for my finger:-- | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| Here in my study you sing me a measure. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Whimsy and song in my little gray study! | 11 | /˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Words out of wonderland, praising her fineness, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Touched with her pulsating, delicate laughter, | 11 | ···/·˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Saying, "The girl is all daring and kindness!" | 11 | /˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Saying, "Her soul is all feminine gameness, | 11 | /˘····/˘˘/˘ |
| Trusting her insights, ardent for living; | 10 | /˘·/·/˘·/˘ |
| She would be weeping with me and be laughing, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| A thoroughbred, joyous receiving and giving!" | 12 | ·/˘//˘˘/˘·/˘ |
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.