Ralph Rhodes
All they said was true:I wrecked my father’s bank with my loansTo dabble in wheat; but this was true—I was buying wheat for him as well,Who couldn’t margin the deal in his nameBecause of his church relationship.And while George Reece was serving his termI chased the will-o-the-wisp of womenAnd the mockery of wine in New York.It’s deathly to sicken of wine and womenWhen nothing else is left in life.But suppose your head is gray, and bowedOn a table covered with acrid stubsOf cigarettes and empty glasses,And a knock is heard, and you know it’s the knockSo long drowned out by popping corksAnd the pea-cock screams of demireps—And you look up, and there’s your Theft,Who waited until your head was gray,And your heart skipped beats to say to you:The game is ended. I’ve called for you,Go out on Broadway and be run over,They’ll ship you back to Spoon River.
Words in this poem
- deathly a.
- Deadly; fatal; mortal; destructive.
- sicken v. t.
- To make sick; to disease.
- popping
- a. & n. from Pop. Popping crease. (Cricket) See under Crease.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ralph Rhodes 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, Ralph Rhodes, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/ralph-rhodes.html, id L07857.
Form and metre
Ralph Rhodes is 23 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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----B-B---------AA-- trueA · loans · trueA · well · name · relationship · term · womenB · york · womenB · life · bowed · stubs · glasses · knock · corks · demireps · theft · gray · youA · youA · over · river
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| All they said was true: | 5 | ····· |
| I wrecked my father’s bank with my loans | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| To dabble in wheat; but this was true— | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| I was buying wheat for him as well, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Who couldn’t margin the deal in his name | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Because of his church relationship. | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| And while George Reece was serving his term | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| I chased the will-o-the-wisp of women | 10 | ········/˘ |
| And the mockery of wine in New York. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| It’s deathly to sicken of wine and women | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| When nothing else is left in life. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But suppose your head is gray, and bowed | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| On a table covered with acrid stubs | 10 | ··/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Of cigarettes and empty glasses, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And a knock is heard, and you know it’s the knock | 11 | ··········· |
| So long drowned out by popping corks | 9 | ···˘··/˘· |
| And the pea-cock screams of demireps— | 9 | ········· |
| And you look up, and there’s your Theft, | 8 | ········ |
| Who waited until your head was gray, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And your heart skipped beats to say to you: | 9 | ········· |
| The game is ended. I’ve called for you, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Go out on Broadway and be run over, | 9 | ···/····· |
| They’ll ship you back to Spoon River. | 8 | ······/˘ |
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.