Lucius Atherton
When my moustache curled,And my hair was black,And I wore tight trousersAnd a diamond stud,I was an excellent knave of hearts and took many a trick.But when the gray hairs began to appear—Lo! a new generation of girlsLaughed at me, not fearing me,And I had no more exciting adventuresWherein I was all but shot for a heartless devil,But only drabby affairs, warmed-over affairsOf other days and other men.And time went on until I lived atMayer’s restaurant,Partaking of short-orders, a gray, untidy,Toothless, discarded, rural Don Juan. . . .There is a mighty shade here who singsOf one named Beatrice;And I see now that the force that made him greatDrove me to the dregs of life.
Words in this poem
- knave n.
- A boy; especially, a boy servant. Wyclif. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. kna, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.]
- heartless a.
- Without a heart.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- untidy a.
- Unseasonable; untimely.
- toothless a.
- Having no teeth.
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lucius Atherton 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, Lucius Atherton, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/lucius-atherton.html, id L07790.
Form and metre
Lucius Atherton is 20 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 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 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 |
|---|---|---|
| When my moustache curled, | 5 | ··/·· |
| And my hair was black, | 5 | ····· |
| And I wore tight trousers | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And a diamond stud, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I was an excellent knave of hearts and took many a trick. | 15 | ···/˘˘·····/˘·· |
| But when the gray hairs began to appear— | 10 | ·····˘/·˘/ |
| Lo! a new generation of girls | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Laughed at me, not fearing me, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And I had no more exciting adventures | 11 | ·····˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Wherein I was all but shot for a heartless devil, | 13 | ·········/˘/˘ |
| But only drabby affairs, warmed-over affairs | 12 | ·/˘··˘/···˘/ |
| Of other days and other men. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And time went on until I lived at | 9 | ········· |
| Mayer’s restaurant, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Partaking of short-orders, a gray, untidy, | 12 | ˘/˘··/˘··˘/˘ |
| Toothless, discarded, rural Don Juan. . . . | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘··· |
| There is a mighty shade here who sings | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Of one named Beatrice; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And I see now that the force that made him great | 11 | ··········· |
| Drove me to the dregs of life. | 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.