Robert Davidson
I grew spiritually fat living off the souls of men.If I saw a soul that was strongI wounded its pride and devoured its strength.The shelters of friendship knew my cunningFor where I could steal a friend I did so.And wherever I could enlarge my powerBy undermining ambition, I did so,Thus to make smooth my own.And to triumph over other souls,Just to assert and prove my superior strength,Was with me a delight,The keen exhilaration of soul gymnastics.Devouring souls, I should have lived forever.But their undigested remains bred in me a deadly nephritis,With fear, restlessness, sinking spirits,Hatred, suspicion, vision disturbed.I collapsed at last with a shriek.Remember the acorn;It does not devour other acorns.
Words in this poem
- spiritually adv.
- In a spiritual manner; with purity of spirit; like a spirit.
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- exhilaration n.
- The act of enlivening the spirits; the act of making glad or cheerful; a gladdening. [L., exhilaratio.]
- nephritis n.
- An inflammation of the kidneys.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Robert Davidson 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, Robert Davidson, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/robert-davidson.html, id L07837.
Form and metre
Robert Davidson is 19 lines in a single stanza. 77% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% 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 -ABAC-C--B--------- men · strongA · strengthB · cunningA · soC · power · soC · own · souls · strengthB · delight · gymnastics · forever · nephritis · spirits · disturbed · shriek · acorn · acorns
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I grew spiritually fat living off the souls of men. | 15 | ··/˘˘˘˘·/˘····· |
| If I saw a soul that was strong | 8 | ········ |
| I wounded its pride and devoured its strength. | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘·· |
| The shelters of friendship knew my cunning | 10 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| For where I could steal a friend I did so. | 10 | ·········· |
| And wherever I could enlarge my power | 11 | ·˘/˘··˘/·/˘ |
| By undermining ambition, I did so, | 11 | ·/˘·˘˘/˘··· |
| Thus to make smooth my own. | 6 | ······ |
| And to triumph over other souls, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Just to assert and prove my superior strength, | 12 | ··˘/···˘/˘˘· |
| Was with me a delight, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The keen exhilaration of soul gymnastics. | 12 | ··˘·˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Devouring souls, I should have lived forever. | 12 | ˘/˘˘·····˘/˘ |
| But their undigested remains bred in me a deadly nephritis, | 17 | ······˘/····/˘˘/˘ |
| With fear, restlessness, sinking spirits, | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Hatred, suspicion, vision disturbed. | 9 | /˘˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| I collapsed at last with a shriek. | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Remember the acorn; | 6 | ˘/˘·/˘ |
| It does not devour other acorns. | 10 | ···˘/˘/˘/˘ |
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.