Silas Dement
It was moon-light, and the earth sparkledWith new-fallen frost.It was midnight and not a soul abroad.Out of the chimney of the court-houseA gray-hound of smoke leapt and chasedThe northwest wind.I carried a ladder to the landing of the stairsAnd leaned it against the frame of the trap-doorIn the ceiling of the portico,And I crawled under the roof and amid the raftersAnd flung among the seasoned timbersA lighted handful of oil-soaked waste.Then I came down and slunk away.In a little while the fire-bell rang—Clang! Clang! Clang!And the Spoon River ladder companyCame with a dozen buckets and began to pour waterOn the glorious bon-fire, growing hotterHigher and brighter, till the walls fell inAnd the limestone columns where Lincoln stoodCrashed like trees when the woodman fells them.When I came back from JolietThere was a new court house with a dome.For I was punished like all who destroyThe past for the sake of the future.
Words in this poem
- chimney n.
- A fireplace or hearth. Sir W. Raleigh.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- woodman n.
- A forest officer appointed to take care of the king's woods; a forester. [Eng.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Silas Dement 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, Silas Dement, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/silas-dement.html, id L07891.
Form and metre
Silas Dement is 25 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 56% 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-BB---------- sparkled · frost · abroad · house · chasedA · wind · stairs · door · portico · rafters · timbers · wasteA · away · rangB · clangB · company · water · hotter · in · stood · them · joliet · dome · destroy · future
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It was moon-light, and the earth sparkled | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| With new-fallen frost. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| It was midnight and not a soul abroad. | 10 | ··/·····˘/ |
| Out of the chimney of the court-house | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| A gray-hound of smoke leapt and chased | 8 | ········ |
| The northwest wind. | 4 | ··/· |
| I carried a ladder to the landing of the stairs | 13 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘··· |
| And leaned it against the frame of the trap-door | 11 | ··········· |
| In the ceiling of the portico, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| And I crawled under the roof and amid the rafters | 13 | ········˘/·/˘ |
| And flung among the seasoned timbers | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| A lighted handful of oil-soaked waste. | 9 | ·/˘/····· |
| Then I came down and slunk away. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| In a little while the fire-bell rang— | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| Clang! Clang! Clang! | 3 | ··· |
| And the Spoon River ladder company | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Came with a dozen buckets and began to pour water | 14 | ···/˘/˘·˘/··/˘ |
| On the glorious bon-fire, growing hotter | 12 | ··/˘˘·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Higher and brighter, till the walls fell in | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And the limestone columns where Lincoln stood | 10 | ··/·/˘·/˘· |
| Crashed like trees when the woodman fells them. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| When I came back from Joliet | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There was a new court house with a dome. | 9 | ········· |
| For I was punished like all who destroy | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| The past for the sake of the future. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
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.