A Modest Wit
A supercilious nabob of the East--Haughty, being great--purse-proud, being rich--A governor, or general, at the least,I have forgotten which--Had in his family a humble youth,Who went from England in his patron’s suit,An unassuming boy, in truthA lad of decent parts, and good repute.
This youth had sense and spirit;But yet with all his sense,Excessive diffidenceObscured his merit.
One day, at table, flushed with pride and wine,His honour, proudly free, severely merry,Conceived it would be vastly fineTo crack a joke upon his secretary.
“Young man,” he said, “by what art, craft, or trade,Did your good father gain a livelihood?”--“He was a saddler, sir,” Modestus said,“And in his time was reckon’d good.”
“A saddler, eh! and taught you Greek,Instead of teaching you to sew!Pray, why did not your father makeA saddler, sir, of you?”
Each parasite, then, as in duty bound,The joke applauded, and the laugh went round.At length Modestus, bowing low,Said (craving pardon, if too free he made),“Sir, by your leave, I fain would knowYour father’s trade!”
“My father’s trade! by heaven, that’s too bad!My father’s trade? Why, blockhead, are you mad?My father, sir, did never stoop so low--He was a gentleman, I’d have you know.”
“Excuse the liberty I take,”Modestus said, with archness on his brow,“Pray, why did not your father makeA gentleman of you?”
Words in this poem
- nabob n.
- A deputy or viceroy in India; a governor of a province of the ancient Mogul empire. [Hind. nawab, from Ar. nawab, pl. of na\'8bb a vicegerent, governor. Cf Nawab.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- unassuming a.
- Not assuming; not bold or forward; not arrogant or presuming; humble; modest; retiring; as, an unassuming youth; unassuming manners.
- diffidence n.
- The state of being diffident; distrust; want of confidence; doubt of the power, ability, or disposition of others. [L. diffidentia.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- vastly adv.
- To a vast extent or degree; very greatly; immensely. Jer.
- craft n.
- Strength; might; secret power. [AS. cr strength, skill, art, cunning; akin to OS., G., Sw., & Dan. kraft strength, D. kracht, Icel. kraptr; perh. originally, a drawing together, stretching, fr]
- saddler n.
- One who makes saddles.
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- archness n.
- The quality of being arch; cleverness; sly humor free from malice; waggishness. Goldsmith.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Modest Wit is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mary E. Burt, A Modest Wit, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/a-modest-wit.html, id L25257.
Form and metre
A Modest Wit is 38 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABABCDCD eastA · richB · leastA · whichB · youthC · suitD · truthC · reputeD
- 3 ABAB wineA · merryB · fineA · secretaryB
- 4 -A-A trade · livelihoodA · said · goodA
- 6 AABCBC boundA · roundA · lowB · madeC · knowB · tradeC
- 7 AABB badA · madA · lowB · knowB
- 8 A-A- takeA · brow · makeA · you
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A supercilious nabob of the East-- | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Haughty, being great--purse-proud, being rich-- | 8 | /˘/···/· |
| A governor, or general, at the least, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| I have forgotten which-- | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Had in his family a humble youth, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Who went from England in his patron’s suit, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| An unassuming boy, in truth | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| A lad of decent parts, and good repute. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| This youth had sense and spirit; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But yet with all his sense, | 6 | ······ |
| Excessive diffidence | 6 | ˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Obscured his merit. | 5 | ˘/·/˘ |
| One day, at table, flushed with pride and wine, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| His honour, proudly free, severely merry, | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Conceived it would be vastly fine | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| To crack a joke upon his secretary. | 11 | ·······/˘·˘ |
| “Young man,” he said, “by what art, craft, or trade, | 10 | ·········· |
| Did your good father gain a livelihood?”-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| “He was a saddler, sir,” Modestus said, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| “And in his time was reckon’d good.” | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| “A saddler, eh! and taught you Greek, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Instead of teaching you to sew! | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Pray, why did not your father make | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A saddler, sir, of you?” | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Each parasite, then, as in duty bound, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The joke applauded, and the laugh went round. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| At length Modestus, bowing low, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Said (craving pardon, if too free he made), | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| “Sir, by your leave, I fain would know | 8 | ········ |
| Your father’s trade!” | 4 | ·/˘· |
| “My father’s trade! by heaven, that’s too bad! | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| My father’s trade? Why, blockhead, are you mad? | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| My father, sir, did never stoop so low-- | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| He was a gentleman, I’d have you know.” | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| “Excuse the liberty I take,” | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| Modestus said, with archness on his brow, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| “Pray, why did not your father make | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A gentleman of you?” | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
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