Roy Butler
If the learned Supreme Court of IllinoisGot at the secret of every caseAs well as it does a case of rapeIt would be the greatest court in the world.A jury, of neighbors mostly, with “Butch” WeldyAs foreman, found me guilty in ten minutesAnd two ballots on a case like this:Richard Bandle and I had trouble over a fenceAnd my wife and Mrs. Bandle quarreledAs to whether Ipava was a finer town than Table Grove.I awoke one morning with the love of GodBrimming over my heart, so I went to see RichardTo settle the fence in the spirit of Jesus Christ.I knocked on the door, and his wife opened;She smiled and asked me in.I entered— She slammed the door and began to scream,“Take your hands off, you low down varlet!”Just then her husband entered.I waved my hands, choked up with words.He went for his gun, and I ran out.But neither the Supreme Court nor my wifeBelieved a word she said.
Words in this poem
- illinois n.
- A tribe of North American Indians, which formerly occupied the region between the Wabash and Mississippi rivers.
- foreman n.
- The first or chief man; as: (a) The chief man of a jury, who acts as their speaker.
- bandle n.
- An Irish measure of two feet in length. [Ir. bannlamh cubit, fr. bann a measure + lamh hand, arm.]
- brimming a.
- Full to the brim; overflowing.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- varlet n.
- A servant, especially to a knight; an attendant; a valet; a footman. Spenser. Tusser. [OF. varlet, vaslet, vallet, servant, young man, young noble, dim of vassal. See Vassal, and cf. Valet.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Roy Butler 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, Roy Butler, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/roy-butler.html, id L07872.
Form and metre
Roy Butler is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% 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 ----------AA-----B---B illinois · case · rape · world · weldy · minutes · this · fence · quarreled · grove · godA · richardA · christ · opened · in · scream · varlet · enteredB · words · out · wife · saidB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If the learned Supreme Court of Illinois | 10 | ···˘/···˘/ |
| Got at the secret of every case | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| As well as it does a case of rape | 9 | ········· |
| It would be the greatest court in the world. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| A jury, of neighbors mostly, with “Butch” Weldy | 12 | ·/˘·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| As foreman, found me guilty in ten minutes | 11 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| And two ballots on a case like this: | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Richard Bandle and I had trouble over a fence | 13 | /˘/˘···/˘···· |
| And my wife and Mrs. Bandle quarreled | 10 | ····/˘/˘/˘ |
| As to whether Ipava was a finer town than Table Grove. | 16 | ·········/˘··/˘· |
| I awoke one morning with the love of God | 11 | ·˘/·/˘····· |
| Brimming over my heart, so I went to see Richard | 13 | /˘·········/˘ |
| To settle the fence in the spirit of Jesus Christ. | 13 | ·/˘····/˘·/˘· |
| I knocked on the door, and his wife opened; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| She smiled and asked me in. | 6 | ······ |
| I entered— She slammed the door and began to scream, | 12 | ·/˘·····˘/·· |
| “Take your hands off, you low down varlet!” | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Just then her husband entered. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| I waved my hands, choked up with words. | 8 | ········ |
| He went for his gun, and I ran out. | 9 | ········· |
| But neither the Supreme Court nor my wife | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Believed a word she said. | 6 | ˘/···· |
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.