The Builders
I dwell near a murmur of leaves,And my labor is sweeter than rest;For over my head in the shade of the eavesA throstle is building his nest.
And he teaches me gospels of joy,As he gurgles and shouts in his toil:It is brimming with rapture, his wild employ,Bearing a straw for spoil.
So I know ‘twas a joyous GodWho stretched out the splendor of things,And gave to my bird the cool green sod,A sky, and a venture of wings.
But why are my brothers so still?They are building a lordly hall—They are building a palace there on the hill,But there’s never a song in it all!
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- throstle n.
- The song thrush. See under Song. [OE. throsel, AS. , ; akin to MHG. trostel, G. drossel, Icel. , Sw. trast, Lith. strazdas, L. turdus. *238. Cf. Thrush the bird.]
- brimming a.
- Full to the brim; overflowing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Builders is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lincoln & other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54527; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edwin Markham, The Builders, in Lincoln and Other Poems (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54527, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/markham-lincoln/the-builders.html, id L10796.
Form and metre
The Builders is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 ABAB leavesA · restB · eavesA · nestB
- 2 ABAB joyA · toilB · employA · spoilB
- 3 ABAB godA · thingsB · sodA · wingsB
- 4 ABAB stillA · hallB · hillA · allB
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I dwell near a murmur of leaves, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| And my labor is sweeter than rest; | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| For over my head in the shade of the eaves | 10 | ·········· |
| A throstle is building his nest. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| And he teaches me gospels of joy, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| As he gurgles and shouts in his toil: | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| It is brimming with rapture, his wild employ, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘··˘/ |
| Bearing a straw for spoil. | 6 | /˘···· |
| So I know ‘twas a joyous God | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who stretched out the splendor of things, | 9 | ··˘··/˘·· |
| And gave to my bird the cool green sod, | 9 | ········· |
| A sky, and a venture of wings. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| But why are my brothers so still? | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| They are building a lordly hall— | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| They are building a palace there on the hill, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘···· |
| But there’s never a song in it all! | 9 | ··/˘····· |
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.