Old Man Travelling; Animal Tranquillity and Decay, a Sketch
The little hedge-row birds,That peck along the road, regard him not.He travels on, and in his face, his step,His gait, is one expression; every limb,His look and bending figure, all bespeakA man who does not move with pain, but movesWith thought--He is insensibly subduedTo settled quiet: he is one by whomAll effort seems forgotten, one to whomLong patience has such mild composure given,That patience now doth seem a thing, of whichHe hath no need. He is by nature ledTo peace so perfect, that the young beholdWith envy, what the old man hardly feels.--I asked him whither he was bound, and whatThe object of his journey; he replied“Sir! I am going many miles to take“A last leave of my son, a mariner,“Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth,And there is dying in an hospital.”
Words in this poem
- bespeak v. t.
- To speak or arrange for beforehand; to order or engage against a future time; as, to bespeak goods, a right, or a favor. [OE. bispeken, AS. besprecan, to speak to, accuse; pref. be- + sprecan to speak. See Speak.]
- insensibly adv.
- In a manner not to be felt or perceived; imperceptibly; gradually.
- composure n.
- The act of composing, or that which is composed; a composition. [From Compose.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- hospital n.
- A place for shelter or entertainment; an inn. [OF. hospital, ospital, F. hôpital, LL. hospitale (or perh. E. hospital is directly from the Late Latin), from L. hospitalis relating to a guest, hospitalia apar]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Man Travelling; Animal Tranquillity and Decay, a Sketch is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798), Project Gutenberg ebook #9622; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, Old Man Travelling; Animal Tranquillity and Decay, a Sketch, in Lyrical Ballads (1798), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9622, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lyrical-ballads/old-man-travelling-animal-tranquillity-and-decay-a-sketch.html, id L02864.
Form and metre
Old Man Travelling; Animal Tranquillity and Decay, a Sketch is 20 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 55% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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 -------AA----------- birds · not · step · limb · bespeak · moves · subdued · whomA · whomA · given · which · led · behold · feels · what · replied · take · mariner · falmouth · hospital
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The little hedge-row birds, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That peck along the road, regard him not. | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| He travels on, and in his face, his step, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| His gait, is one expression; every limb, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| His look and bending figure, all bespeak | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| A man who does not move with pain, but moves | 10 | ·········· |
| With thought--He is insensibly subdued | 10 | ····˘/˘˘˘/ |
| To settled quiet: he is one by whom | 9 | ·/˘/····· |
| All effort seems forgotten, one to whom | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Long patience has such mild composure given, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘/ |
| That patience now doth seem a thing, of which | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| He hath no need. He is by nature led | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To peace so perfect, that the young behold | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| With envy, what the old man hardly feels. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| --I asked him whither he was bound, and what | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The object of his journey; he replied | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| “Sir! I am going many miles to take | 8 | ···//··· |
| “A last leave of my son, a mariner, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| “Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| And there is dying in an hospital.” | 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.