Batterton Dobyns
Did my widow flit aboutFrom Mackinac to Los Angeles,Resting and bathing and sitting an hourOr more at the table over soup and meatsAnd delicate sweets and coffee?I was cut down in my primeFrom overwork and anxiety.But I thought all along, whatever happensI’ve kept my insurance up,And there’s something in the bank,And a section of land in Manitoba.But just as I slipped I had a visionIn a last delirium:I saw myself lying nailed in a boxWith a white lawn tie and a boutonnière,And my wife was sitting by a windowSome place afar overlooking the sea;She seemed so rested, ruddy and fat,Although her hair was white.And she smiled and said to a colored waiter:“Another slice of roast beef, George.Here’s a nickel for your trouble.”
Words in this poem
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Batterton Dobyns 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, Batterton Dobyns, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/batterton-dobyns.html, id L07868.
Form and metre
Batterton Dobyns is 22 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.9 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Did my widow flit about | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| From Mackinac to Los Angeles, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Resting and bathing and sitting an hour | 11 | /˘·/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Or more at the table over soup and meats | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And delicate sweets and coffee? | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| I was cut down in my prime | 7 | ······· |
| From overwork and anxiety. | 9 | ··˘/·˘/˘˘ |
| But I thought all along, whatever happens | 11 | ····˘/·/˘/˘ |
| I’ve kept my insurance up, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And there’s something in the bank, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And a section of land in Manitoba. | 11 | ··/˘····˘/˘ |
| But just as I slipped I had a vision | 10 | ········/˘ |
| In a last delirium: | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| I saw myself lying nailed in a box | 10 | ···//˘···· |
| With a white lawn tie and a boutonnière, | 10 | ·········· |
| And my wife was sitting by a window | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| Some place afar overlooking the sea; | 10 | ··˘//˘·˘·· |
| She seemed so rested, ruddy and fat, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Although her hair was white. | 6 | ······ |
| And she smiled and said to a colored waiter: | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| “Another slice of roast beef, George. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Here’s a nickel for your trouble.” | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
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.