Interlude
All praised the Legend more or less;Some liked the moral, some the verse;Some thought it better, and some worseThan other legends of the past;Until, with ill-concealed distressAt all their cavilling, at lastThe Theologian gravely said:"The Spanish proverb, then, is right;Consult your friends on what you do,And one will say that it is white,And others say that it is red."And "Amen!" quoth the Spanish Jew.
"Six stories told! We must have seven,A cluster like the Pleiades,And lo! it happens, as with these,That one is missing from our heaven.Where is the Landlord? Bring him here;Let the Lost Pleiad reappear."
Thus the Sicilian cried, and wentForthwith to seek his missing star,But did not find him in the bar,A place that landlords most frequent,Nor yet beside the kitchen fire,Nor up the stairs, nor in the hall;It was in vain to ask or call,There were no tidings of the Squire.
So he came back with downcast head,Exclaiming: "Well, our bashful hostHath surely given up the ghost.Another proverb says the deadCan tell no tales; and that is true.It follows, then, that one of youMust tell a story in his stead.You must," he to the Student said,"Who know so many of the best,And tell them better than the rest."Straight by these flattering words beguiled,The Student, happy as a childWhen he is called a little man,Assumed the double task imposed,And without more ado unclosedHis smiling lips, and thus began.
Words in this poem
- gravely adv.
- In a grave manner.
- consult n.
- The act of consulting or deliberating; consultation; also, the result of consulation; determination; decision.
- amen interj.
- An expression used at the end of prayers, and meaning, So be it. At the end of a creed, it is a solemn asseveration of belief. [L. amen, Gr. am certainly, truly.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- pleiades n.
- The seven daughters of Atlas and the nymph Pleione, fabled to have been made by Jupiter a constellation in the sky.
- pleiad n.
- One of the Pleiades.
- reappear v. i.
- To appear again.
- sicilian a.
- Of or pertaining to Sicily or its inhabitants. Sicilian vespers, the great massacre of the French in Sicily, in the year 1282, on the evening of Easter Monday, at the hour of vespers.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
- bashful a.
- Abashed; daunted; dismayed. [See Bash.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- unclosed a.
- Not separated by inclosures; open. Clarendon. [Pref. un- not + closed.]
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 The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/interlude-6.html, id L17686.
Form and metre
Interlude is 42 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBCACDEFEDF lessA · verseB · worseB · pastC · distressA · lastC · saidD · rightE · doF · whiteE · redD · jewF
- 2 ABBACC sevenA · pleiadesB · theseB · heavenA · hereC · reappearC
- 3 ABBACDDC wentA · starB · barB · frequentA · fireC · hallD · callD · squireC
- 4 ABBACCAADDEEFGGF headA · hostB · ghostB · deadA · trueC · youC · steadA · saidA · bestD · restD · beguiledE · childE · manF · imposedG · unclosedG · beganF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All praised the Legend more or less; | 9 | ··˘·/˘··· |
| Some liked the moral, some the verse; | 9 | ··˘·/˘··· |
| Some thought it better, and some worse | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Than other legends of the past; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Until, with ill-concealed distress | 9 | ····˘/˘˘/ |
| At all their cavilling, at last | 8 | ········ |
| The Theologian gravely said: | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘· |
| "The Spanish proverb, then, is right; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Consult your friends on what you do, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And one will say that it is white, | 8 | ········ |
| And others say that it is red." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And "Amen!" quoth the Spanish Jew. | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| "Six stories told! We must have seven, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| A cluster like the Pleiades, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And lo! it happens, as with these, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That one is missing from our heaven. | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Where is the Landlord? Bring him here; | 8 | ···/···· |
| Let the Lost Pleiad reappear." | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Thus the Sicilian cried, and went | 9 | ··˘/˘˘··· |
| Forthwith to seek his missing star, | 8 | //···/˘· |
| But did not find him in the bar, | 8 | ········ |
| A place that landlords most frequent, | 8 | ···/··/˘ |
| Nor yet beside the kitchen fire, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Nor up the stairs, nor in the hall; | 8 | ········ |
| It was in vain to ask or call, | 8 | ········ |
| There were no tidings of the Squire. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So he came back with downcast head, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Exclaiming: "Well, our bashful host | 9 | ˘/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Hath surely given up the ghost. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Another proverb says the dead | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Can tell no tales; and that is true. | 8 | ········ |
| It follows, then, that one of you | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Must tell a story in his stead. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You must," he to the Student said, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Who know so many of the best, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And tell them better than the rest." | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Straight by these flattering words beguiled, | 10 | ···/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| The Student, happy as a child | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When he is called a little man, | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| Assumed the double task imposed, | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘·˘/˘ |
| And without more ado unclosed | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| His smiling lips, and thus began. | 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.