Patience
Be patient with you?When the stooping skyLeans down upon the hillsAnd tenderly, as one who soothing stillsAn anguish, gathers earth to lieEmbraced and girdled. Do the sun-filled menFeel patience then?
Be patient with you?When the snow-girt earthCracks to let through a spurtOf sudden green, and from the muddy dirtA snowdrop leaps, how mark its worthTo eyes frost-hardened, and do weary menFeel patience then?
Be patient with you?When pain's iron barsTheir rivets tighten, sternTo bend and break their victims; as they turn,Hopeless, there stand the purple jarsOf night to spill oblivion. Do these menFeel patience then?
Be patient with you?You! My sun and moon!My basketful of flowers!My money-bag of shining dreams! My hours,Windless and still, of afternoon!You are my world and I your citizen.What meaning can have patience then?
Words in this poem
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
- basketful n.
- As much as a basket will contain.
- windless a.
- Having no wind; calm.
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Patience is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sword Blades and Poppy Seed, Project Gutenberg ebook #1020; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Amy Lowell, Patience, in Sword Blades and Poppy Seed (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1020, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lowell-amy-sword-blades/patience.html, id L08207.
Form and metre
Patience is 28 lines in 4 stanzas of 7 lines each. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 -ABBACC you · skyA · hillsB · stillsB · lieA · menC · thenC
- 2 -ABBACC you · earthA · spurtB · dirtB · worthA · menC · thenC
- 3 -ABBACC you · barsA · sternB · turnB · jarsA · menC · thenC
- 4 -ABBAAA you · moonA · flowersB · hoursB · afternoonA · citizenA · thenA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Be patient with you? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| When the stooping sky | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Leans down upon the hills | 6 | ······ |
| And tenderly, as one who soothing stills | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| An anguish, gathers earth to lie | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Embraced and girdled. Do the sun-filled men | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Feel patience then? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Be patient with you? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| When the snow-girt earth | 5 | ····· |
| Cracks to let through a spurt | 6 | ······ |
| Of sudden green, and from the muddy dirt | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A snowdrop leaps, how mark its worth | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To eyes frost-hardened, and do weary men | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Feel patience then? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Be patient with you? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| When pain's iron bars | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Their rivets tighten, stern | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| To bend and break their victims; as they turn, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Hopeless, there stand the purple jars | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Of night to spill oblivion. Do these men | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Feel patience then? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Be patient with you? | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| You! My sun and moon! | 5 | ····· |
| My basketful of flowers! | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| My money-bag of shining dreams! My hours, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Windless and still, of afternoon! | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| You are my world and I your citizen. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| What meaning can have patience then? | 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.