Radical
Taperingto a point, conserving everything,this carrot is predefined to be thick.The world isbut a circumstance, a mis-erable corn-patch for its feet. With ambition,imagination, outgrowth,
nutriment,with everything crammed belligerent-ly inside itself, its fibres breed mon-opoly—a tail-like, wedge-shaped engine with thesecret of expansion, fused with intensive heatto the color of the set-
ting sun andstiff. For the man in the straw hat, stand-ing still and turning to look back at it—as much asto say my happiest moment hasbeen funereal in comparison with this, the con-ditions of life pre-
determinedslavery to be easy and freedom hard. Forit? Dismissagrarian lore; it tells him this:that which it is impossible to force, it isimpossible to hinder.
Words in this poem
- carrot n.
- An umbelliferous biennial plant (Daucus Carota), of many varieties.
- belligerent a.
- Waging war; carrying on war. [L. bellum war + gerens, -entis, waging, p. pr. of gerere to wage: cf. F. belligérant. See Bellicose, Jest.]
- ting n.
- A sharp sound, as of a bell; a tinkling. [An imitative word. Cf. Tink.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Radical 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, Radical, in Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62833, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/moore-poems/radical.html, id L02634.
Form and metre
Radical is 27 lines in 4 stanzas. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% 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 AA----- taperingA · everythingA · thick · is · mis · ambition · outgrowth
- 2 AA----- nutrimentA · belligerentA · mon · opoly · the · heat · set
- 3 AA-BB-- andA · standA · it · asB · hasB · con · pre
- 4 --AA-- determined · for · dismissA · thisA · is · hinder
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tapering | 3 | /˘˘ |
| to a point, conserving everything, | 9 | ···˘/˘/˘· |
| this carrot is predefined to be thick. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The world is | 3 | ··· |
| but a circumstance, a mis- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| erable corn-patch for its feet. With ambition, | 12 | ·········˘/˘ |
| imagination, outgrowth, | 7 | ˘·˘/˘/· |
| nutriment, | 3 | /˘˘ |
| with everything crammed belligerent- | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| ly inside itself, its fibres breed mon- | 10 | ·˘/˘/·/˘·· |
| opoly— | 3 | ··· |
| a tail-like, wedge-shaped engine with the | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| secret of expansion, fused with intensive heat | 12 | /˘·˘/˘··˘/˘· |
| to the color of the set- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| ting sun and | 3 | ··· |
| stiff. For the man in the straw hat, stand- | 9 | ········· |
| ing still and turning to look back at it— | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| as much as | 3 | ··· |
| to say my happiest moment has | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| been funereal in comparison with this, the con- | 14 | ·˘/˘˘·˘/˘˘···· |
| ditions of life pre- | 5 | ····· |
| determined | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| slavery to be easy and freedom hard. For | 12 | /˘˘··/˘·/˘·· |
| it? Dismiss | 3 | ·˘/ |
| agrarian lore; it tells him this: | 9 | ˘/˘˘····· |
| that which it is impossible to force, it is | 12 | ····˘/˘˘···· |
| impossible to hinder. | 7 | ˘/˘˘·/˘ |
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.