Anthony Findlay
Both for the country and for the man,And for a country as well as a man,’Tis better to be feared than loved.And if this country would rather partWith the friendship of every nationThan surrender its wealth,I say of a man ’tis worse to loseMoney than friends.And I rend the curtain that hides the soulOf an ancient aspiration:When the people clamor for freedomThey really seek for power o’er the strong.I, Anthony Findlay, rising to greatnessFrom a humble water carrier,Until I could say to thousands “Come,”And say to thousands “Go,”Affirm that a nation can never be good.Or achieve the good,Where the strong and the wise have not the rodTo use on the dull and weak.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- aspiration n.
- The act of aspirating; the pronunciation of a letter with a full or strong emission of breath; an aspirated sound. [L. aspiratio, fr. aspirare: cf. F. aspiration.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anthony Findlay is in the public domain. This text is taken from Spoon River Anthology, Project Gutenberg ebook #1280; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edgar Lee Masters, Anthony Findlay, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/anthony-findlay.html, id L07847.
Form and metre
Anthony Findlay is 20 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AA--B----BC---C-DD-- manA · manA · loved · part · nationB · wealth · lose · friends · soul · aspirationB · freedomC · strong · greatness · carrier · comeC · go · goodD · goodD · rod · weak
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Both for the country and for the man, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And for a country as well as a man, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| ’Tis better to be feared than loved. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And if this country would rather part | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| With the friendship of every nation | 10 | ··/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Than surrender its wealth, | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| I say of a man ’tis worse to lose | 9 | ········· |
| Money than friends. | 4 | /˘·· |
| And I rend the curtain that hides the soul | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Of an ancient aspiration: | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| When the people clamor for freedom | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| They really seek for power o’er the strong. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I, Anthony Findlay, rising to greatness | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘·/˘ |
| From a humble water carrier, | 9 | ··/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Until I could say to thousands “Come,” | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And say to thousands “Go,” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Affirm that a nation can never be good. | 11 | ˘/··/˘·/˘·· |
| Or achieve the good, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Where the strong and the wise have not the rod | 10 | ·········· |
| To use on the dull and weak. | 7 | ······· |
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.