Percival Sharp
Observe the clasped hands!Are they hands of farewell or greeting,Hands that I helped or hands that helped me?Would it not be well to carve a handWith an inverted thumb, like Elagabalus?And yonder is a broken chain,The weakest-link idea perhaps—But what was it?And lambs, some lying down,Others standing, as if listening to the shepherd—Others bearing a cross, one foot lifted up—Why not chisel a few shambles?And fallen columns!Carve the pedestal, please,Or the foundations; let us see the cause of the fall.And compasses and mathematical instruments,In irony of the under tenants, ignoranceOf determinants and the calculus of variations.And anchors, for those who never sailed.And gates ajar—yes, so they were;You left them open and stray goats entered your garden.And an eye watching like one of the Arimaspi—So did you—with one eye.And angels blowing trumpets—you are heralded—It is your horn and your angel and your family’s estimate.It is all very well, but for myselfI know I stirred certain vibrations in Spoon RiverWhich are my true epitaph, more lasting than stone.
Words in this poem
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- ajar adv.
- Slightly turned or opened; as, the door was standing ajar. [OE. on char ajar, on the turn; AS. cerr, cyrr, turn, akin to G. kehren to turn, and to D. akerre. See Char.]
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Percival Sharp 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, Percival Sharp, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/percival-sharp.html, id L07876.
Form and metre
Percival Sharp is 28 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 --------------------------AA hands · greeting · me · hand · elagabalus · chain · perhaps · it · down · shepherd · up · shambles · columns · please · fall · instruments · ignorance · variations · sailed · were · garden · arimaspi · eye · heralded · estimate · myself · riverA · stoneA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Observe the clasped hands! | 5 | ˘/··· |
| Are they hands of farewell or greeting, | 9 | ·····/·/˘ |
| Hands that I helped or hands that helped me? | 9 | ········· |
| Would it not be well to carve a hand | 9 | ········· |
| With an inverted thumb, like Elagabalus? | 12 | ··˘/˘······· |
| And yonder is a broken chain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The weakest-link idea perhaps— | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘/ |
| But what was it? | 4 | ···· |
| And lambs, some lying down, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Others standing, as if listening to the shepherd— | 13 | /˘/˘··/˘˘··/˘ |
| Others bearing a cross, one foot lifted up— | 11 | /˘/˘····/˘· |
| Why not chisel a few shambles? | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And fallen columns! | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Carve the pedestal, please, | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Or the foundations; let us see the cause of the fall. | 13 | ··˘/˘········ |
| And compasses and mathematical instruments, | 13 | ·/˘˘··˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| In irony of the under tenants, ignorance | 13 | ·/˘˘····/˘/˘˘ |
| Of determinants and the calculus of variations. | 15 | ·˘/˘˘··/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| And anchors, for those who never sailed. | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And gates ajar—yes, so they were; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| You left them open and stray goats entered your garden. | 13 | ···/˘···/˘·/˘ |
| And an eye watching like one of the Arimaspi— | 13 | ···/˘········ |
| So did you—with one eye. | 6 | ······ |
| And angels blowing trumpets—you are heralded— | 12 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| It is your horn and your angel and your family’s estimate. | 16 | ······/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| It is all very well, but for myself | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| I know I stirred certain vibrations in Spoon River | 13 | ····/˘˘/˘··/˘ |
| Which are my true epitaph, more lasting than stone. | 12 | ····/˘··/˘·· |
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.