Dock Rats
There are human beings who seem to regard the place as craftilyas we do—who seem to feel that it is a good place to comehome to. On what a river; wide—twinkling like a chopped sea undersomeof the finest shipping in the
world: the square-rigged four-master, the liner, the battleship,like the two-thirds submerged section of an iceberg; the tug—strong movingthing,dipping and pushing, the bell striking as it comes; the steamyacht, lyinglike a new made arrow on the
stream; the ferry-boat—a head assigned, one to each compartment,makinga row of chessmen set for play. When the wind is from the east,the smell is of apples; of hay, the aroma increased and decreasedsuddenly as the wind changes;
of rope; of mountain leaves for florists. When it is from the west,it isan elixir. There is occasionally a parrakeetarrived from Brazil, clasping and clawing; or a monkey—tail andfeetin readiness for an over-
ture. All palms and tail; how delightful! There is the sea, movingthe bulk-head with its horse strength; and the multiplicity of ruddersand propellers; the signals, shrill, questioning, peremptory,diverse;the wharf cats and the barge dogs—it
Words in this poem
- craftily adv.
- With craft; artfully; cunningly. [See Crafty.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- liner n.
- One who lines, as, a liner of shoes.
- iceberg n.
- A large mass of ice, generally floating in the ocean. [Prob. of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. iisbierg, Sw. isberg, properly, a mountain of ice. See Ice, and Berg.]
- elixir n.
- A tincture with more than one base; a compound tincture or medicine, composed of various substances, held in solution by alcohol in some form. [F. élixir, Sp. elixir, Ar. eliksir the philosopher's stone, prob. from Gr. ksha to burn.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dock Rats is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #62833; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Marianne Moore, Dock Rats, in Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62833, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moore-poems/dock-rats.html, id L02633.
Form and metre
Dock Rats is 29 lines in 5 stanzas. 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 62% 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- craftily · comeA · under · someA · the
- 2 --AA-A- battleship · two · movingA · thingA · steam · lyingA · the
- 3 --AA- compartment · making · eastA · decreasedA · changes
- 4 --A-A- west · is · parrakeetA · and · feetA · over
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There are human beings who seem to regard the place as craftily | 17 | ··/˘/˘···˘/···/˘˘ |
| as we do—who seem to feel that it is a good place to come | 15 | ··············· |
| home to. On what a river; wide—twinkling like a chopped sea under | 17 | ·····/˘·/˘˘······ |
| some | 1 | · |
| of the finest shipping in the | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| world: the square-rigged four-master, the liner, the battleship, | 14 | ·····/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| like the two- | 3 | ··· |
| thirds submerged section of an iceberg; the tug—strong moving | 14 | ·˘//˘··/˘···/˘ |
| thing, | 1 | · |
| dipping and pushing, the bell striking as it comes; the steam | 14 | /˘·/˘··/˘····· |
| yacht, lying | 3 | ·/˘ |
| like a new made arrow on the | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| stream; the ferry-boat—a head assigned, one to each compartment, | 15 | ··/˘···˘/···˘/˘ |
| making | 2 | /˘ |
| a row of chessmen set for play. When the wind is from the east, | 15 | ··············· |
| the smell is of apples; of hay, the aroma increased and decreased | 17 | ····/˘···˘/˘˘/·˘/ |
| suddenly as the wind changes; | 8 | /˘˘···/˘ |
| of rope; of mountain leaves for florists. When it is from the west, | 15 | ···/˘··/˘······ |
| it is | 2 | ·· |
| an elixir. There is occasionally a parrakeet | 15 | ·˘/˘··˘/˘˘˘···· |
| arrived from Brazil, clasping and clawing; or a monkey—tail and | 16 | ˘/·˘//˘·/˘··/˘·· |
| feet | 1 | · |
| in readiness for an over- | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| ture. All palms and tail; how delightful! There is the sea, moving | 15 | ······˘/˘····/˘ |
| the bulk- | 2 | ·· |
| head with its horse strength; and the multiplicity of rudders | 15 | ········˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| and propellers; the signals, shrill, questioning, peremptory, | 15 | ·˘/˘·/˘·/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| diverse; | 2 | ˘/ |
| the wharf cats and the barge dogs—it | 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.