William Jones
Once in a while a curious weed unknown to me,Needing a name from my books;Once in a while a letter from Yeomans.Out of the mussel-shells gathered along the shoreSometimes a pearl with a glint like meadow rue:Then betimes a letter from Tyndall in England,Stamped with the stamp of Spoon River.I, lover of Nature, beloved for my love of her,Held such converse afar with the greatWho knew her better than I.Oh, there is neither lesser nor greater,Save as we make her greater and win from her keener delight.With shells from the river cover me, cover me.I lived in wonder, worshipping earth and heaven.I have passed on the march eternal of endless life.
Words in this poem
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- glint n.
- A glimpse, glance, or gleam. [OE. glent.]
- betimes adv.
- In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- keener n.
- A professional mourner who wails at a funeral. [Ireland]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
William Jones 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, William Jones, in Spoon River Anthology (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1280, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/masters-spoon-river/william-jones.html, id L07942.
Form and metre
William Jones is 15 lines in a single stanza. 70% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.9 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% 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 A--------A--A-- meA · books · yeomans · shore · rue · england · river · her · great · iA · greater · delight · meA · heaven · life
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Once in a while a curious weed unknown to me, | 13 | ·····/˘˘·˘/·· |
| Needing a name from my books; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Once in a while a letter from Yeomans. | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| Out of the mussel-shells gathered along the shore | 12 | ···/˘·/˘˘/·· |
| Sometimes a pearl with a glint like meadow rue: | 11 | ˘/······/·· |
| Then betimes a letter from Tyndall in England, | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Stamped with the stamp of Spoon River. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I, lover of Nature, beloved for my love of her, | 13 | ·/˘·/˘˘/····· |
| Held such converse afar with the great | 9 | ··/˘˘/··· |
| Who knew her better than I. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Oh, there is neither lesser nor greater, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Save as we make her greater and win from her keener delight. | 15 | ·····/˘····/˘˘/ |
| With shells from the river cover me, cover me. | 12 | ····/˘/˘·/˘· |
| I lived in wonder, worshipping earth and heaven. | 12 | ···/˘/˘˘··/˘ |
| I have passed on the march eternal of endless life. | 13 | ······˘/˘·/˘· |
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.