Marie Bateson
You observe the carven handWith the index finger pointing heavenward.That is the direction, no doubt.But how shall one follow it?It is well to abstain from murder and lust,To forgive, do good to others, worship GodWithout graven images.But these are external means after allBy which you chiefly do good to yourself.The inner kernel is freedom,It is light, purity—I can no more,Find the goal or lose it, according to your vision.
Words in this poem
- carven a.
- Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
- 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,]
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- graven p. p.
- Carved. Graven image, an idol; an object of worship carved from wood, stone, etc.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Marie Bateson 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, Marie Bateson, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/marie-bateson.html, id L07936.
Form and metre
Marie Bateson is 13 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. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| You observe the carven hand | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| With the index finger pointing heavenward. | 11 | ··/˘/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| That is the direction, no doubt. | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| But how shall one follow it? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| It is well to abstain from murder and lust, | 11 | ····˘/·/˘·· |
| To forgive, do good to others, worship God | 11 | ·˘/···/˘/˘· |
| Without graven images. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| But these are external means after all | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| By which you chiefly do good to yourself. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The inner kernel is freedom, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| It is light, purity— | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| I can no more, | 4 | ···· |
| Find the goal or lose it, according to your vision. | 13 | ······˘/˘··/˘ |
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.