Deaf House Agent
That deaf old manWith his hand to his ear—His hand to his head stood out like a shell,Horny and hollow. He said, “I can’t hear,”He muttered, “Don’t shout,I can hear very well!”He mumbled, “I can’t catch a word;I can’t follow.”Then Jack with a voice like a Protestant bellRoared—“Particulars! Farmhouse! At 10 quid a year!”“I dunno wot place you are talking about,”Said the deaf old man.Said Jack, “What the HELL!”
But the deaf old man took a pin from his desk, picked a piece ofwool the size of a hen’s egg from his ear, had a good look atit, decided in its favour and replaced it in the aforementionedorgan.
Words in this poem
- farmhouse n.
- A dwelling house on a farm; a farmer's residence.
- quid n.
- A portion suitable to be chewed; a cud; as, a quid of tobacco. [See Cud.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- aforementioned a.
- Previously mentioned; before-mentioned.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Deaf House Agent is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #59276; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Katherine Mansfield, Deaf House Agent, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/deaf-house-agent.html, id L27597.
Form and metre
Deaf House Agent is 17 lines in 2 stanzas.
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 ABCBDC--CBDAC manA · earB · shellC · hearB · shoutD · wellC · word · follow · bellC · yearB · aboutD · manA · hellC
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| That deaf old man | 4 | ···· |
| With his hand to his ear— | 6 | ······ |
| His hand to his head stood out like a shell, | 10 | ·········· |
| Horny and hollow. He said, “I can’t hear,” | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| He muttered, “Don’t shout, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I can hear very well!” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He mumbled, “I can’t catch a word; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I can’t follow.” | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Then Jack with a voice like a Protestant bell | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Roared—“Particulars! Farmhouse! At 10 quid a year!” | 10 | ·˘/˘/····· |
| “I dunno wot place you are talking about,” | 11 | ·˘/····/˘·· |
| Said the deaf old man. | 5 | ····· |
| Said Jack, “What the HELL!” | 5 | ····· |
| But the deaf old man took a pin from his desk, picked a piece of | 15 | ··············· |
| wool the size of a hen’s egg from his ear, had a good look at | 15 | ··············· |
| it, decided in its favour and replaced it in the aforementioned | 18 | ·˘/˘··/˘··/···˘/·˘ |
| organ. | 2 | /˘ |
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.