Biography
ShipsTruthThey closed her EyesThe HarpI saw the RampartsThat Blessed SunlightSongThe Ballad of Sir BorsSpanish WatersCargoesCaptain Stratton's FancyAn Old Song re-sungSt. Mary's BellsLondon TownThe EmigrantPort of Holy PeterBeautyThe SeekersPrayerDawnLaugh and be MerryJune TwilightRoadwaysMidsummer NightThe Harper's SongThe Gentle LadyThe Dead KnightSorrow of MydathTwilightInvocationPosted as MissingA CreedWhen Bony DeathThe West WindHer HeartBeing her FriendFragmentsBorn for Nought ElseTewkesbury RoadThe Death RoomsIgnoranceSea FeverThe Watch in the WoodWasteThird MateThe Wild DuckChristmas,The Word
Words in this poem
- emigrant a.
- Removing from one country to another; emigrating; as, an emigrant company or nation. [L. emigrans, -antis, p. pr. of emigrare to emigrate: cf. F. émigrant. See Emigrate, v. i.]
- midsummer n.
- The middle of summer. Shak. Midsummer daisy (Bot.), the oxeye daisy. [AS. midsumor.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Biography is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Story of a Round-House, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #40717; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Masefield, Biography, in The Story of a Round-House, and Other Poems (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #40717, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masefield-round-house/biography.html, id L24974.
Form and metre
Biography is 48 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
See other poems in trochaic dimeter.
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-----------B-B--B-B------------------- ships · truth · eyes · harp · ramparts · sunlight · song · bors · watersA · cargoesA · fancy · sung · bells · town · emigrant · peter · beauty · seekers · prayer · dawn · merry · twilightB · roadways · nightB · song · lady · knightB · mydath · twilightB · invocation · missing · creed · death · wind · heart · friend · fragments · else · road · rooms · ignorance · fever · wood · waste · mate · duck · christmas · word
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 trochaic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ships | 1 | · |
| Truth | 1 | · |
| They closed her Eyes | 4 | ···· |
| The Harp | 2 | ·· |
| I saw the Ramparts | 5 | ···/· |
| That Blessed Sunlight | 4 | ··/· |
| Song | 1 | · |
| The Ballad of Sir Bors | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Spanish Waters | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Cargoes | 2 | /· |
| Captain Stratton's Fancy | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| An Old Song re-sung | 5 | ····· |
| St. Mary's Bells | 4 | ·/˘· |
| London Town | 3 | /˘· |
| The Emigrant | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Port of Holy Peter | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Beauty | 2 | /˘ |
| The Seekers | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Prayer | 1 | · |
| Dawn | 1 | · |
| Laugh and be Merry | 5 | ···/˘ |
| June Twilight | 3 | ·/· |
| Roadways | 2 | /· |
| Midsummer Night | 4 | //˘· |
| The Harper's Song | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The Gentle Lady | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| The Dead Knight | 3 | ··· |
| Sorrow of Mydath | 5 | /˘··· |
| Twilight | 2 | /· |
| Invocation | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Posted as Missing | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| A Creed | 2 | ·· |
| When Bony Death | 4 | ·/˘· |
| The West Wind | 3 | ··· |
| Her Heart | 2 | ·· |
| Being her Friend | 4 | /˘·· |
| Fragments | 2 | /˘ |
| Born for Nought Else | 4 | ···· |
| Tewkesbury Road | 5 | ····· |
| The Death Rooms | 3 | ··· |
| Ignorance | 3 | /˘˘ |
| Sea Fever | 3 | ·/˘ |
| The Watch in the Wood | 5 | ····· |
| Waste | 1 | · |
| Third Mate | 2 | ·· |
| The Wild Duck | 3 | ··· |
| Christmas, | 2 | /˘ |
| The Word | 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.