To the Others
I see you, refulgent ones,Burning so steadilyLike big white arc lights...There are so many of you.I like to watch you weaving--Altogether and with precisionEach his ray--Your tracery of light,Making a shining way about America.
I note your infinite reactions--In glasswareAnd sequinAnd puddlesAnd bits of jet--And here and there a diamond...
But you do not yet see me,Who am a torch blown along the wind,Flickering to a sparkBut never out.
Words in this poem
- refulgent a.
- Casting a bright light; radiant; brilliant; resplendent; shining; splendid; as, refulgent beams. [L. refulgens, p. pr. of refulgere to flash back, to shine bright; pref. re- re- + fulgere to shine. See Fulgent.]
- altogether adv.
- All together; conjointly. [OE. altogedere; al all + togedere together. See Together.]
- tracery n.
- Ornamental work with rambled lines. Especially: -- (a) The decorative head of a Gothic window.
- sequin n.
- An old gold coin of Italy and Turkey. It was first struck at Venice about the end of the 13th century, and afterward in the other Italian cities, and by the Levant trade was introduced into Turkey. [F. sequin, It. zecchino, from zecca the mint, fr. Ar. sekkah, sikkah, a die, a stamp. Cf. Zechin.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Others 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, To the Others, in The Ghetto, and Other Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4332, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/ridge-ghetto/to-the-others.html, id L20896.
Form and metre
To the Others is 19 lines in 3 stanzas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I see you, refulgent ones, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Burning so steadily | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Like big white arc lights... | 5 | ····· |
| There are so many of you. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| I like to watch you weaving-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Altogether and with precision | 9 | ·˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Each his ray-- | 3 | ··· |
| Your tracery of light, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Making a shining way about America. | 12 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| I note your infinite reactions-- | 9 | ···/˘˘˘/˘ |
| In glassware | 3 | ·/· |
| And sequin | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And puddles | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And bits of jet-- | 4 | ···· |
| And here and there a diamond... | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But you do not yet see me, | 7 | ······· |
| Who am a torch blown along the wind, | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| Flickering to a spark | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| But never out. | 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.