The Ghetto VII
Here in this room, bare like a barn,Egos gesture one to the other--Naked, unformed, unwingedEgos out of the shell,Examining, searching, devouring--Avid alike for the flower or the dung...(Having no dainty antennae for the touch and withdrawal--Only the open maw...)
Egos cawing,Expanding in the mean egg...Little squat tailors with unkempt faces,Pale as lard,Fur-makers, factory-hands, shop-workers,News-boys with battling eyesAnd bodies yet vibrant with the momentum of long runs,Here and there a woman...
Words, words, words,Pattering like hail,Like hail falling without aim...Egos rampant,Screaming each other down.One motions perpetually,Waving arms like overgrowths.He has burning eyes and a coughAnd a thin voice pipingLike a flute among trombones.
One, red-bearded, rearingA welter of maimed face bashed in from some old wound,Garbles Max Stirner.His words knock each other like little wooden blocks.No one heeds him,And a lank boy with hair over his eyesPounds upon the table.--He is chairman.
Egos yet in the primer,Hearing world-voicesChanting grand arias...Majors resonant,Stunning with sound...Baffling minorsHalf-heard like rain on pools...Majestic discordancesGreater than harmonies...--Gleaning out of it allPassion, bewilderment, pain...
Egos yearning with the world-old want in their eyes--Hurt hot eyes that do not sleep enough...Striving with infinite effort,Frustrate yet ever pursuingThe great white Liberty,Trailing her dissolving glory over each hard-won barricade--Only to fade anew...
Egos crying out of unkempt deepsAnd waving their dreams like flags--Multi-colored dreams,Winged and glorious...
A gas jet throws a stunted flame,Vaguely illumining the groping faces.And through the uncurtained windowFalls the waste light of stars,As cold as wise men's eyes...Indifferent great stars,Fortuitously glancingAt the secret meeting in this shut-in room,Bare as a manger.
Words in this poem 15
- avid a.
- Longing eagerly for; eager; greedy. [L. avidus, fr. av to long: cf. F. avide. See Avarice.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- unkempt a.
- Not combed; disheveled; as, an urchin with unkempt hair. [Pref. un- not + kempt, p. p. of kemb.]
- vibrant a.
- Vibrating; tremulous; resonant; as, vibrant drums. [L. vibrans, p. pr.: cf. F. vibrant. See Vibrate.]
- momentum n.
- The quantity of motion in a moving body, being always proportioned to the quantity of matter multiplied into the velocity; impetus. [L. See Moment.]
- screaming a.
- Uttering screams; shrieking.
- perpetually adv.
- In a perpetual manner; constantly; continually.
- piping a.
- Playing on a musical pipe. [From Pipe, v.]
- welter v. i.
- To roll, as the body of an animal; to tumble about, especially in anything foul or defiling; to wallow. [Freq. of OE. walten to roll over, AS. wealtan; akin to LG. weltern, G. walzen to roll, to waltz, sich wälzen to welter, OHG. walzan to roll, Icel. velta, Dan. v]
- chairman n.
- The presiding officer of a committee, or of a public or private meeting, or of any organized body.
- stunning a.
- Overpowering consciousness; overpowering the senses; especially, overpowering the sense of hearing; confounding with noise.
- gleaning n.
- The act of gathering after reapers; that which is collected by gleaning.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- manger n.
- A trough or open box in which fodder is placed for horses or cattle to eat. [F. mangeoire, fr. manger to eat, fr. L. manducare, fr. mandere to chew. Cf. Mandible, Manducate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ghetto VII 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 VII, in The Ghetto, and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4332, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/ridge-ghetto/the-ghetto-vii.html, id L20868.
Form and metre
The Ghetto VII is 65 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ---ABBA- barn · other · unwinged · shellA · devouringB · dungB · withdrawalA · maw
- 2 --A-AA-- cawing · egg · facesA · lard · workersA · eyesA · runs · woman
- 8 -A-BAB--- flame · facesA · window · starsB · eyesA · starsB · glancing · room · manger
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Here in this room, bare like a barn, | 8 | ········ |
| Egos gesture one to the other-- | 9 | /˘/˘···/˘ |
| Naked, unformed, unwinged | 6 | /˘˘/·· |
| Egos out of the shell, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Examining, searching, devouring-- | 10 | ˘/˘˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Avid alike for the flower or the dung... | 11 | /˘˘/··/˘··· |
| (Having no dainty antennae for the touch and withdrawal-- | 15 | /˘·/˘˘/˘····˘/˘ |
| Only the open maw...) | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Egos cawing, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Expanding in the mean egg... | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Little squat tailors with unkempt faces, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘//˘ |
| Pale as lard, | 3 | ··· |
| Fur-makers, factory-hands, shop-workers, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··/˘ |
| News-boys with battling eyes | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And bodies yet vibrant with the momentum of long runs, | 14 | ·/˘·/˘··˘/˘··· |
| Here and there a woman... | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Words, words, words, | 3 | ··· |
| Pattering like hail, | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| Like hail falling without aim... | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Egos rampant, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Screaming each other down. | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| One motions perpetually, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘˘˘ |
| Waving arms like overgrowths. | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| He has burning eyes and a cough | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And a thin voice piping | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Like a flute among trombones. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| One, red-bearded, rearing | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| A welter of maimed face bashed in from some old wound, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Garbles Max Stirner. | 5 | /˘··· |
| His words knock each other like little wooden blocks. | 12 | ····/˘·/˘/˘· |
| No one heeds him, | 4 | ···· |
| And a lank boy with hair over his eyes | 10 | ·········· |
| Pounds upon the table. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| --He is chairman. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Egos yet in the primer, | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Hearing world-voices | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Chanting grand arias... | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Majors resonant, | 5 | /˘/˘˘ |
| Stunning with sound... | 4 | /˘·· |
| Baffling minors | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| Half-heard like rain on pools... | 6 | ······ |
| Majestic discordances | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Greater than harmonies... | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| --Gleaning out of it all | 6 | /˘···· |
| Passion, bewilderment, pain... | 7 | /˘˘/˘˘· |
| Egos yearning with the world-old want in their eyes-- | 12 | /˘/˘········ |
| Hurt hot eyes that do not sleep enough... | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Striving with infinite effort, | 8 | /˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Frustrate yet ever pursuing | 8 | /··/˘˘/˘ |
| The great white Liberty, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Trailing her dissolving glory over each hard-won barricade-- | 16 | /˘·˘/˘/˘·····/˘· |
| Only to fade anew... | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| Egos crying out of unkempt deeps | 9 | /˘/˘··˘/· |
| And waving their dreams like flags-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Multi-colored dreams, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Winged and glorious... | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| A gas jet throws a stunted flame, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Vaguely illumining the groping faces. | 11 | /˘·····/˘/˘ |
| And through the uncurtained window | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Falls the waste light of stars, | 6 | ······ |
| As cold as wise men's eyes... | 6 | ······ |
| Indifferent great stars, | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| Fortuitously glancing | 6 | ····/˘ |
| At the secret meeting in this shut-in room, | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| Bare as a manger. | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.