Davis Matlock
Suppose it is nothing but the hive:That there are drones and workersAnd queens, and nothing but storing honey—(Material things as well as culture and wisdom)—For the next generation, this generation never living,Except as it swarms in the sun-light of youth,Strengthening its wings on what has been gathered,And tasting, on the way to the hiveFrom the clover field, the delicate spoil.Suppose all this, and suppose the truth:That the nature of man is greaterThan nature’s need in the hive;And you must bear the burden of life,As well as the urge from your spirit’s excess—Well, I say to live it out like a godSure of immortal life, though you are in doubt,Is the way to live it.If that doesn’t make God proud of youThen God is nothing but gravitationOr sleep is the golden goal.
About this text
Davis Matlock 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, Davis Matlock, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/davis-matlock.html, id L07931.
Form and metre
Davis Matlock is 20 lines in a single stanza. 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A----B-A-B-A-------- hiveA · workers · honey · wisdom · living · youthB · gathered · hiveA · spoil · truthB · greater · hiveA · life · excess · god · doubt · it · you · gravitation · goal
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Suppose it is nothing but the hive: | 9 | ˘/··/˘··· |
| That there are drones and workers | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And queens, and nothing but storing honey— | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| (Material things as well as culture and wisdom)— | 13 | ˘/˘˘····/˘·/˘ |
| For the next generation, this generation never living, | 16 | ····˘/˘··˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Except as it swarms in the sun-light of youth, | 11 | ··········· |
| Strengthening its wings on what has been gathered, | 11 | /˘˘······/˘ |
| And tasting, on the way to the hive | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| From the clover field, the delicate spoil. | 10 | ··/˘··/˘˘· |
| Suppose all this, and suppose the truth: | 9 | ˘/···˘/·· |
| That the nature of man is greater | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Than nature’s need in the hive; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And you must bear the burden of life, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| As well as the urge from your spirit’s excess— | 11 | ·······/˘/· |
| Well, I say to live it out like a god | 10 | ·········· |
| Sure of immortal life, though you are in doubt, | 11 | ··˘/˘······ |
| Is the way to live it. | 6 | ······ |
| If that doesn’t make God proud of you | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Then God is nothing but gravitation | 10 | ···/˘··˘/˘ |
| Or sleep is the golden goal. | 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.