Ingratitude
Blow, blow, thou winter wind,Thou are not so unkindAs man’s ingratitude;Thy tooth is not so keenBecause thou are not seen,Although thy breath be rude.
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,Thou dost not bite so nighAs benefits forgot;Though thou the waters warp,Thy sting is not so sharpAs friend remembered not.
Words in this poem
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- ingratitude n.
- Want of gratitude; insensibility to, forgetfulness of, or ill return for, kindness or favors received; unthankfulness; ungratefulness. [F. ingratitude, L. ingratitudo. See Ingrate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ingratitude 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, Ingratitude, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/ingratitude.html, id L25199.
Form and metre
Ingratitude is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic 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 AABCCB windA · unkindA · ingratitudeB · keenC · seenC · rudeB
- 2 AABCCB skyA · nighA · forgotB · warpC · sharpC · notB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Blow, blow, thou winter wind, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou are not so unkind | 6 | ····˘/ |
| As man’s ingratitude; | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Thy tooth is not so keen | 6 | ······ |
| Because thou are not seen, | 6 | ······ |
| Although thy breath be rude. | 6 | ······ |
| Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou dost not bite so nigh | 6 | ······ |
| As benefits forgot; | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Though thou the waters warp, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thy sting is not so sharp | 6 | ······ |
| As friend remembered not. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
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.