The Ghetto IX
A sallow dawn is in the skyAs I enter my little green room.Sadie's light is still burning...Without, the frail moonWorn to a silvery tissue,Throws a faint glamour on the roofs,And down the shadowy spiresLights tip-toe out...Softly as when lovers close street doors.
Out of the BatteryA little windStirs idly--as an armTrails over a boat's side in dalliance--Rippling the smooth dead surface of the heat,And Hester street,Like a forlorn woman over-bornBy many babies at her teats,Turns on her trampled bed to meet the day.
LIFE!Startling, vigorous life,That squirms under my touch,And baffles me when I try to examine it,Or hurls me back without apology.Leaving my ego ruffled and preening itself.
Life,Articulate, shrill,Screaming in provocative assertion,Or out of the black and clotted gutters,Piping in silvery thinSweet staccatoOf children's laughter,
Or clinging over the pushcartsLike a litter of tiny bellsOr the jingle of silver coins,Perpetually changing hands,Or like the Jordan somberlySwirling in tumultuous uncharted tides,Surface-calm.
Electric currents of life,Throwing off thoughts like sparks,Glittering, disappearing,Making unknown circuits,Or out of spent particles stirringFeeble contortions in old faithsPassing before the new.
Long nights argued awayIn meeting hallsBack of interminable stairways--In Roumanian wine-shopsAnd little Russian tea-rooms...
Feet echoing through deserted streetsIn the soft darkness before dawn...Brows aching, throbbing, burning--Life leaping in the shaken fleshLike flame at an asbestos curtain.
Life--Pent, overflowingStoops and façades,Jostling, pushing, contriving,Seething as in a great vat...
Bartering, changing, extorting,Dreaming, debating, aspiring,Astounding, indestructibleLife of the Ghetto...
Strong flux of life,Like a bitter wineOut of the bloody stills of the world...Out of the Passion eternal.
Words in this poem 16
- glamour n.
- A charm affecting the eye, making objects appear different from what they really are. [Scot. glamour, glamer; cf. Icel. glámeggdr one who is troubled with the glaucoma; or Icel. glam-s weakness of sight, glamour; glamr name of the moon, also of a ]
- dalliance n.
- The act of dallying, trifling, or fondling; interchange of caresses; wanton play. [From Dally.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- screaming a.
- Uttering screams; shrieking.
- piping a.
- Playing on a musical pipe. [From Pipe, v.]
- jingle v. i.
- To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
- perpetually adv.
- In a perpetual manner; constantly; continually.
- jordan n.
- A pot or vessel with a large neck, formerly used by physicians and alchemists. Halliwell. [Prob. fr. the river Jordan, and shortened fr. Jordan bottle a bottle of water from the Jordan, brought back by pilgrims.]
- somberly adv.
- In a somber manner; sombrously; gloomily; despondingly.
- roumanian a.
- Of or pertaining to Roumania.
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- debating n.
- The act of discussing or arguing; discussion. Debating society or club, a society or club for the purpose of debate and improvement in extemporaneous speaking.
- aspiring a.
- That aspires; as, an Aspiring mind.
- astounding a.
- Of a nature to astound; astonishing; amazing; as, an astounding force, statement, or fact.
- ghetto n.
- The Jews'quarter in an Italian town or city. [It.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ghetto IX 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 Ghetto IX, in The Ghetto, and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4332, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/ridge-ghetto/the-ghetto-ix.html, id L20870.
Form and metre
The Ghetto IX is 68 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%).
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 ----AA--- battery · wind · arm · dalliance · heatA · streetA · born · teats · day
- 3 AA---- lifeA · lifeA · touch · it · apology · itself
- 4 --A-A-- life · shrill · assertionA · gutters · thinA · staccato · laughter
- 8 -A--A streets · dawnA · burning · flesh · curtainA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A sallow dawn is in the sky | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As I enter my little green room. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Sadie's light is still burning... | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Without, the frail moon | 5 | ····· |
| Worn to a silvery tissue, | 8 | ···/˘˘/· |
| Throws a faint glamour on the roofs, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And down the shadowy spires | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Lights tip-toe out... | 4 | ···· |
| Softly as when lovers close street doors. | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| Out of the Battery | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| A little wind | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Stirs idly--as an arm | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Trails over a boat's side in dalliance-- | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Rippling the smooth dead surface of the heat, | 11 | /˘˘···/˘··· |
| And Hester street, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Like a forlorn woman over-born | 9 | ··˘//˘··· |
| By many babies at her teats, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Turns on her trampled bed to meet the day. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| LIFE! | 1 | · |
| Startling, vigorous life, | 6 | /˘/˘˘· |
| That squirms under my touch, | 6 | ······ |
| And baffles me when I try to examine it, | 12 | ·/˘·····˘/˘· |
| Or hurls me back without apology. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Leaving my ego ruffled and preening itself. | 12 | /˘·/˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Life, | 1 | · |
| Articulate, shrill, | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| Screaming in provocative assertion, | 10 | /˘·˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Or out of the black and clotted gutters, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Piping in silvery thin | 7 | /˘·/˘˘· |
| Sweet staccato | 4 | ·˘/· |
| Of children's laughter, | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Or clinging over the pushcarts | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like a litter of tiny bells | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Or the jingle of silver coins, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Perpetually changing hands, | 8 | ˘/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Or like the Jordan somberly | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Swirling in tumultuous uncharted tides, | 11 | /˘··/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Surface-calm. | 3 | /˘· |
| Electric currents of life, | 7 | ˘/˘/˘·· |
| Throwing off thoughts like sparks, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Glittering, disappearing, | 7 | /˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Making unknown circuits, | 6 | /˘˘//˘ |
| Or out of spent particles stirring | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| Feeble contortions in old faiths | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| Passing before the new. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Long nights argued away | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| In meeting halls | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Back of interminable stairways-- | 9 | ··˘/˘˘˘/· |
| In Roumanian wine-shops | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| And little Russian tea-rooms... | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Feet echoing through deserted streets | 9 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘· |
| In the soft darkness before dawn... | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Brows aching, throbbing, burning-- | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Life leaping in the shaken flesh | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Like flame at an asbestos curtain. | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Life-- | 1 | · |
| Pent, overflowing | 5 | ·/˘·˘ |
| Stoops and façades, | 4 | ···· |
| Jostling, pushing, contriving, | 8 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Seething as in a great vat... | 7 | /˘····· |
| Bartering, changing, extorting, | 8 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Dreaming, debating, aspiring, | 8 | /˘˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Astounding, indestructible | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Life of the Ghetto... | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Strong flux of life, | 4 | ···· |
| Like a bitter wine | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Out of the bloody stills of the world... | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Out of the Passion eternal. | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
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.