The Fog
Out of the lamp-bestarred and clouded dusk--Snaring, illuding, concealing,Magically conjuring--Turning to fairy-coachesBeetle-backed limousinesScampering under the great Arch--Making a decoy of blue overallsAnd mystery of a scarlet shawl--Indolently--Knowing no impediment of its sure advance--Descends the fog.
Words in this poem
- magically adv.
- In a magical manner; by magic, or as if by magic.
- overalls n.
- A kind of loose trousers worn over others to protect them from soiling.
- indolently adv.
- In an indolent manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fog is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Ghetto, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #4332; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lola Ridge, The Fog, in The Ghetto, and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4332, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/ridge-ghetto/the-fog.html, id L20878.
Form and metre
The Fog is 11 lines in a single stanza.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Out of the lamp-bestarred and clouded dusk-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Snaring, illuding, concealing, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Magically conjuring-- | 7 | /˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Turning to fairy-coaches | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| Beetle-backed limousines | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Scampering under the great Arch-- | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Making a decoy of blue overalls | 10 | /˘·˘/··/˘· |
| And mystery of a scarlet shawl-- | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Indolently-- | 4 | /˘˘˘ |
| Knowing no impediment of its sure advance-- | 12 | /˘·˘/˘˘···˘/ |
| Descends the fog. | 4 | ˘/·· |
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.