Directions for Finding the Bard
Would you see what I’m like,This is what to do:Drowse and take your time, likeCamels in a zoo.Sit you where you are, son;Rest you where you lie;I am never far, son,—I’ll be coming by.Watch for Trouble, walkingAll along his course,Stepping high and stalkingLike a funeral horse.See his little friend, there,Knee beside his knee;There’s your search’s end, there,—That’ll be me!
Would you want to see me,This is what to try:Stretch you, sweet and dreamy,Looking at the sky.Watch for Gloom, a-wheelingBlack across the sun,Gibbering and squealing—All the crows in one.See a little speck, there,Side against his side,Sticking at his neck, there;Going for the ride;Dropping, does he drop, son;Looping with him, maybe.Let your seeking stop, son,—That’ll be Baby!
Words in this poem
- drowse v. i.
- To sleep imperfectly or unsoundly; to slumber; to be heavy with sleepiness; to doze. [AS. dr, dr, to sink, become slow or inactive; cf. OD. droosen to be sleepy, fall asleep, LG. dr, druusken, to slumber, fall down with a noise; prob, akin to AS.]
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- looping n.
- The running together of the matter of an ore into a mass, when the ore is only heated for calcination. [Cf. D. loopen to run. Cf. Loop a mass of iron, Leap.]
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Directions for Finding the Bard is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sunset Gun: Poems (Boni & Liveright, 1928), English Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dorothy Parker, Directions for Finding the Bard, in Sunset Gun (1928), text of English Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-sunset-gun/directions-for-finding-the-bard.html, id L27467.
Form and metre
Directions for Finding the Bard is 32 lines in 2 stanzas of 16 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGH likeA · doB · likeA · zooB · sonC · lieD · sonC · byD · walkingE · courseF · stalkingE · horseF · thereG · kneeH · thereG · meH
- 2 AA-ABCBCDEDECFCF meA · tryA · dreamy · skyA · wheelingB · sunC · squealingB · oneC · thereD · sideE · thereD · rideE · sonC · maybeF · sonC · babyF
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Would you see what I’m like, | 6 | ······ |
| This is what to do: | 5 | ····· |
| Drowse and take your time, like | 6 | ······ |
| Camels in a zoo. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Sit you where you are, son; | 6 | ······ |
| Rest you where you lie; | 5 | ····· |
| I am never far, son,— | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| I’ll be coming by. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Watch for Trouble, walking | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| All along his course, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Stepping high and stalking | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Like a funeral horse. | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| See his little friend, there, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Knee beside his knee; | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| There’s your search’s end, there,— | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| That’ll be me! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Would you want to see me, | 6 | ······ |
| This is what to try: | 5 | ····· |
| Stretch you, sweet and dreamy, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Looking at the sky. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Watch for Gloom, a-wheeling | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Black across the sun, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Gibbering and squealing— | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All the crows in one. | 5 | ····· |
| See a little speck, there, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Side against his side, | 5 | ····· |
| Sticking at his neck, there; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Going for the ride; | 5 | /˘··· |
| Dropping, does he drop, son; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Looping with him, maybe. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Let your seeking stop, son,— | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| That’ll be Baby! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
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.