Interlude
When the long murmur of applauseThat greeted the Musician's layHad slowly buzzed itself away,And the long talk of Spectre ShipsThat followed died upon their lipsAnd came unto a natural pause,"These tales you tell are one and allOf the Old World," the Poet said,"Flowers gathered from a crumbling wall,Dead leaves that rustle as they fall;Let me present you in their steadSomething of our New England earth,A tale which, though of no great worth,Has still this merit, that it yieldsA certain freshness of the fields,A sweetness as of home-made bread."
The Student answered: "Be discreet;For if the flour be fresh and sound,And if the bread be light and sweet,Who careth in what mill 't was ground,Or of what oven felt the heat,Unless, as old Cervantes said,You are looking after better breadThan any that is made of wheat?You know that people nowadaysTo what is old give little praise;All must be new in prose and verse:They want hot bread, or something worse,Fresh every morning, and half baked;The wholesome bread of yesterday,Too stale for them, is thrown away,Nor is their thirst with water slaked.
As oft we see the sky in MayThreaten to rain, and yet not rain,The Poet's face, before so gay,Was clouded with a look of pain,But suddenly brightened up again;And without further let or stayHe told his tale of yesterday.
Words in this poem
- spectre n.
- Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
- rustle v. i.
- To make a quick succession of small sounds, like the rubbing or moving of silk cloth or dry leaves. [AS. hristlan to rustle; or cf. Sw. rusta to stir, make a riot, or E. rush, v.]
- discreet a.
- Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
- nowadays adv.
- In these days; at the present time. [For now on (OE. an) days. See A-, 1.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Interlude is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Interlude, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/interlude-17.html, id L26299.
Form and metre
Interlude is 39 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABBCCADEDDEFFGGE applauseA · layB · awayB · shipsC · lipsC · pauseA · allD · saidE · wallD · fallD · steadE · earthF · worthF · yieldsG · fieldsG · breadE
- 2 ABABACCADDEE-FF- discreetA · soundB · sweetA · groundB · heatA · saidC · breadC · wheatA · nowadaysD · praiseD · verseE · worseE · baked · yesterdayF · awayF · slaked
- 3 ABABBAA mayA · rainB · gayA · painB · againB · stayA · yesterdayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When the long murmur of applause | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That greeted the Musician's lay | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Had slowly buzzed itself away, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘/ |
| And the long talk of Spectre Ships | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That followed died upon their lips | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And came unto a natural pause, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "These tales you tell are one and all | 8 | ········ |
| Of the Old World," the Poet said, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Flowers gathered from a crumbling wall, | 8 | //˘··/˘· |
| Dead leaves that rustle as they fall; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Let me present you in their stead | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Something of our New England earth, | 8 | /˘·/·/˘· |
| A tale which, though of no great worth, | 8 | ········ |
| Has still this merit, that it yields | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A certain freshness of the fields, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A sweetness as of home-made bread." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Student answered: "Be discreet; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| For if the flour be fresh and sound, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And if the bread be light and sweet, | 8 | ········ |
| Who careth in what mill 't was ground, | 9 | ········· |
| Or of what oven felt the heat, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Unless, as old Cervantes said, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| You are looking after better bread | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Than any that is made of wheat? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| You know that people nowadays | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To what is old give little praise; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All must be new in prose and verse: | 8 | ········ |
| They want hot bread, or something worse, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fresh every morning, and half baked; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The wholesome bread of yesterday, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Too stale for them, is thrown away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Nor is their thirst with water slaked. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As oft we see the sky in May | 8 | ········ |
| Threaten to rain, and yet not rain, | 8 | /˘······ |
| The Poet's face, before so gay, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was clouded with a look of pain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But suddenly brightened up again; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| And without further let or stay | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He told his tale of yesterday. | 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.