Professor Noctutus
Nobody knows the world but me.The rest go to bed; I sit up and see.I'm a better observer than any of you all,For I never look out till the twilight fall,And never then without green glasses,And that is how my wisdom passes.
I never think, for that is not fit:I observe. I have seen the white moon sitOn her nest, the sea, like a fluffy owl,Hatching the boats and the long-legged fowl!When the oysters gape--you may make a note--She drops a pearl into every throat.
I can see the wind: can you do that?I see the dreams he has in his hat,I see him shaking them out as he goes,I see them rush in at man's snoring nose.Ten thousand things you could not think,I can write down plain with pen and ink!
You know that I know; therefore pull off your hat,Whether round and tall, or square and flat:You cannot do better than trust in me;You may shut your eyes in fact--I see!Lifelong I will lead you, and then, like the owl,I will bury you nicely with my spade and showl.
Words in this poem
- nobody n.
- No person; no one; not anybody. [No, a. + body.]
- fluffy a.
- Pertaining to, or resembling, fluff or nap; soft and downy.
- lifelong a.
- Lasting or continuing through life. [Life + long. Cf. Livelong.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Professor Noctutus is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, Professor Noctutus, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/professor-noctutus.html, id L22336.
Form and metre
Professor Noctutus is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCC meA · seeA · allB · fallB · glassesC · passesC
- 2 AABBCC fitA · sitA · owlB · fowlB · noteC · throatC
- 3 AABBCC thatA · hatA · goesB · noseB · thinkC · inkC
- 4 AABBCC hatA · flatA · meB · seeB · owlC · showlC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nobody knows the world but me. | 8 | /······· |
| The rest go to bed; I sit up and see. | 10 | ·········· |
| I'm a better observer than any of you all, | 13 | ··/˘˘/˘·/˘··· |
| For I never look out till the twilight fall, | 10 | ··/····/·· |
| And never then without green glasses, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And that is how my wisdom passes. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| I never think, for that is not fit: | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I observe. I have seen the white moon sit | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| On her nest, the sea, like a fluffy owl, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Hatching the boats and the long-legged fowl! | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| When the oysters gape--you may make a note-- | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| She drops a pearl into every throat. | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| I can see the wind: can you do that? | 9 | ········· |
| I see the dreams he has in his hat, | 9 | ········· |
| I see him shaking them out as he goes, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I see them rush in at man's snoring nose. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Ten thousand things you could not think, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I can write down plain with pen and ink! | 9 | ········· |
| You know that I know; therefore pull off your hat, | 11 | ··········· |
| Whether round and tall, or square and flat: | 9 | ········· |
| You cannot do better than trust in me; | 10 | ·˘/·/˘···· |
| You may shut your eyes in fact--I see! | 9 | ········· |
| Lifelong I will lead you, and then, like the owl, | 11 | //········· |
| I will bury you nicely with my spade and showl. | 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.