Henry Phipps
I was the Sunday-school superintendent,The dummy president of the wagon worksAnd the canning factory,Acting for Thomas Rhodes and the banking clique;My son the cashier of the bank,Wedded to Rhodes’ daughter,My week days spent in making money,My Sundays at church and in prayer.In everything a cog in the wheel of things-as-they-are:Of money, master and man, made whiteWith the paint of the Christian creed.And then:The bank collapsed.I stood and hooked at the wrecked machine—The wheels with blow-holes stopped with putty and painted;The rotten bolts, the broken rods;And only the hopper for souls fit to be used againIn a new devourer of life,When newspapers, judges and money-magiciansBuild over again.I was stripped to the bone, but I lay in the Rock of Ages,Seeing now through the game, no longer a dupe,And knowing “the upright shall dwell in the landBut the years of the wicked shall be shortened.”Then suddenly, Dr. Meyers discoveredA cancer in my liver.I was not, after all, the particular care of GodWhy, even thus standing on a peakAbove the mists through which I had climbed,And ready for larger life in the world,Eternal forcesMoved me on with a push.
Words in this poem
- dummy a.
- Silent; mute; noiseless; as a dummy engine. [See Dumb.]
- banking n.
- The business of a bank or of a banker. Banking house, an establishment or office in which, or a firm by whom, banking is done.
- clique n.
- A narrow circle of persons associated by common interests or for the accomplishment of a common purpose; -- generally used in a bad sense. [F., fr. OF. cliquer to click. See Click, v. i.]
- cashier n.
- One who has charge of money; a cash keeper; the officer who has charge of the payments and receipts (moneys, checks, notes), of a bank or a mercantile company. [F. caissier, fr. caisse. See Cash.]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- hopper n.
- One who, or that which, hops. [See 1st Hop.]
- devourer n.
- One who, or that which, devours.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Henry Phipps 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, Henry Phipps, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/henry-phipps.html, id L07916.
Form and metre
Henry Phipps is 32 lines in a single stanza. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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.
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---A-------BBC-C----- superintendent · works · factory · clique · bank · daughter · money · prayer · are · white · creedA · then · collapsed · machine · paintedA · rods · again · life · magicians · again · ages · dupe · landB · shortenedB · discoveredC · liver · godC · peak · climbed · world · forces · push
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 Sunday-school superintendent, | 11 | ···/···˘˘/˘ |
| The dummy president of the wagon works | 11 | ·/˘/˘···/˘· |
| And the canning factory, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Acting for Thomas Rhodes and the banking clique; | 11 | /˘·/˘···/˘· |
| My son the cashier of the bank, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Wedded to Rhodes’ daughter, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| My week days spent in making money, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| My Sundays at church and in prayer. | 8 | ·/······ |
| In everything a cog in the wheel of things-as-they-are: | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| Of money, master and man, made white | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| With the paint of the Christian creed. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And then: | 2 | ·· |
| The bank collapsed. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| I stood and hooked at the wrecked machine— | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| The wheels with blow-holes stopped with putty and painted; | 12 | ·······/˘·/˘ |
| The rotten bolts, the broken rods; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And only the hopper for souls fit to be used again | 14 | ·/˘·/˘······˘/ |
| In a new devourer of life, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| When newspapers, judges and money-magicians | 12 | ·/·˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Build over again. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| I was stripped to the bone, but I lay in the Rock of Ages, | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| Seeing now through the game, no longer a dupe, | 11 | /˘·····/˘·· |
| And knowing “the upright shall dwell in the land | 11 | ·/˘·˘/····· |
| But the years of the wicked shall be shortened.” | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Then suddenly, Dr. Meyers discovered | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| A cancer in my liver. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| I was not, after all, the particular care of God | 14 | ·······˘/˘˘··· |
| Why, even thus standing on a peak | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Above the mists through which I had climbed, | 9 | ········· |
| And ready for larger life in the world, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Eternal forces | 5 | ˘/˘/˘ |
| Moved me on with a push. | 6 | ······ |
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.