Hamilton Greene
I was the only child of Frances Harris of VirginiaAnd Thomas Greene of Kentucky,Of valiant and honorable blood both.To them I owe all that I became,Judge, member of Congress, leader in the State.From my mother I inheritedVivacity, fancy, language;From my father will, judgment, logic.All honor to themFor what service I was to the people!
Words in this poem
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- congress n.
- A meeting of individuals, whether friendly or hostile; an encounter. [L. congressus, fr. congredi, p.p. -gressus, to go or come together; con- + grati to go or step, gradus step: cf. F. congr. See Grade.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hamilton Greene 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, Hamilton Greene, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/hamilton-greene.html, id L07839.
Form and metre
Hamilton Greene is 10 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I was the only child of Frances Harris of Virginia | 15 | ···/˘··/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And Thomas Greene of Kentucky, | 8 | ·/˘··˘/˘ |
| Of valiant and honorable blood both. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘˘·· |
| To them I owe all that I became, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Judge, member of Congress, leader in the State. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘/˘··· |
| From my mother I inherited | 9 | ··/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Vivacity, fancy, language; | 8 | ˘/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| From my father will, judgment, logic. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘/˘ |
| All honor to them | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| For what service I was to the people! | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
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.