Les Millwin
The little Millwins attend the Russian Ballet.The mauve and greenish souls of the little MillwinsWere seen lying along the upper seatsLike so many unused boas.
The turbulent and undisciplined host of art students--The rigorous deputation from “Slade”--Was before them.With arms exalted, with fore-armsCrossed in great futuristic X’s, the art studentsExulted, they beheld the splendours of Cleopatra.
And the little Millwins beheld these things;With their large and anæmic eyes they looked out upon this configuration.
Let us therefore mention the fact,For it seems to us worthy of record.
Words in this poem
- ballet n.
- An artistic dance performed as a theatrical entertainment, or an interlude, by a number of persons, usually women. Sometimes, a scene accompanied by pantomime and dancing. [F., a dim. of bal dance. See 2d Ball, n.]
- deputation n.
- The act of deputing, or of appointing or commissioning a deputy or representative; office of a deputy or delegate; vicegerency. [Cf. F. députation. See Depute.]
- slade n.
- A little dell or valley; a flat piece of low, moist ground. [AS. sl.]
- configuration n.
- Form, as depending on the relative disposition of the parts of a thing' shape; figure. [L. configuratio.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Les Millwin is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lustra of Ezra Pound, Project Gutenberg ebook #55564; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ezra Pound, Les Millwin, in Lustra (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #55564, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-lustra/les-millwin.html, id L01262.
Form and metre
Les Millwin is 14 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.9 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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.
- 2 A---A- studentsA · slade · them · arms · studentsA · cleopatra
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The little Millwins attend the Russian Ballet. | 12 | ·/˘··˘/·/˘˘/ |
| The mauve and greenish souls of the little Millwins | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| Were seen lying along the upper seats | 10 | ··/˘˘/·/˘· |
| Like so many unused boas. | 8 | ··/˘˘//˘ |
| The turbulent and undisciplined host of art students-- | 14 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘˘···/˘ |
| The rigorous deputation from “Slade”-- | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Was before them. | 4 | ···· |
| With arms exalted, with fore-arms | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Crossed in great futuristic X’s, the art students | 13 | ····˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Exulted, they beheld the splendours of Cleopatra. | 14 | ˘/˘·˘/·/˘··˘/˘ |
| And the little Millwins beheld these things; | 10 | ··/˘··˘/·· |
| With their large and anæmic eyes they looked out upon this configuration. | 19 | ··············˘·˘/˘ |
| Let us therefore mention the fact, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| For it seems to us worthy of record. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
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.