Mine?
A book is known by them that readThat same. Thy public in my screedIs listed. Well! Some score years henceBehold mine audience,As we had seen him yesterday.
Scrawny, be-spectacled, out at heels,Such an one as the world feelsA sort of curse against its guzzlingAnd its age-lasting wallow for red greedAnd yet; full speedThough it should run for its own getting,Will turn aside to sneer at'Cause he hathNo coin, no will to snatch the aftermathOf Mammon.
Such an one as women draw away fromFor the tobacco ashes scattered on his coatAnd sith his throatShow razor's unfamiliarityAnd three days' beard:
Such an one picking a raggedBackless copy from the stall,Too cheap for cataloguing,Loquitur,
"Ah-eh! the strange rare name....Ah-eh! He must be rare if even I have not....And lost mid-pageSuch ageAs his pardons the habit,He analyzes form and thought to seeHow I 'scaped immortality.
Words in this poem
- screed n.
- A breach or rent; a breaking forth into a loud, shrill sound; as, martial screeds. [See 1st Screed. For sense 2 cf. also Gael. sgread an outcry.]
- scrawny a.
- Meager; thin; rawboned; bony; scranny. [Cf. Scrannel.]
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- mammon n.
- Riches; wealth; the god of riches; riches, personified. [L. mammona, Gr. mam; cf. Heb. matm a hiding place, subterranean storehouse, treasury, fr. taman to hide.]
- sith prep.
- Since; afterwards; seeing that. [See Since.]
- backless a.
- Without a back.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mine? is in the public domain. This text is taken from Personae, Project Gutenberg ebook #41162; 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, Mine?, in Personae (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41162, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-personae/mine.html, id L01201.
Form and metre
Mine? is 31 lines in 5 stanzas. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 58% 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 AABB- readA · screedA · henceB · audienceB · yesterday
- 2 AA-BB--CC- heelsA · feelsA · guzzling · greedB · speedB · getting · at · hathC · aftermathC · mammon
- 3 -AA-- from · coatA · throatA · unfamiliarity · beard
- 5 -ABBA-- name · notA · pageB · ageB · habitA · see · immortality
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A book is known by them that read | 8 | ········ |
| That same. Thy public in my screed | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is listed. Well! Some score years hence | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Behold mine audience, | 6 | ˘/·/˘˘ |
| As we had seen him yesterday. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Scrawny, be-spectacled, out at heels, | 10 | /˘·/˘˘˘··· |
| Such an one as the world feels | 7 | ······· |
| A sort of curse against its guzzling | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And its age-lasting wallow for red greed | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And yet; full speed | 4 | ···· |
| Though it should run for its own getting, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Will turn aside to sneer at | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| 'Cause he hath | 3 | ··· |
| No coin, no will to snatch the aftermath | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of Mammon. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Such an one as women draw away from | 10 | ····/˘·˘/· |
| For the tobacco ashes scattered on his coat | 12 | ··˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| And sith his throat | 4 | ···· |
| Show razor's unfamiliarity | 9 | ·/˘·˘·/˘˘ |
| And three days' beard: | 4 | ···· |
| Such an one picking a ragged | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| Backless copy from the stall, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Too cheap for cataloguing, | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| Loquitur, | 3 | ··· |
| "Ah-eh! the strange rare name.... | 6 | ······ |
| Ah-eh! He must be rare if even I have not.... | 11 | ·······/··· |
| And lost mid-page | 4 | ···· |
| Such age | 2 | ·· |
| As his pardons the habit, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| He analyzes form and thought to see | 10 | ·/˘·˘····· |
| How I 'scaped immortality. | 9 | ···˘·˘/˘˘ |
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.