The Whip
The doubt you fought so long,The cynic net you cast,The tyranny, the wrong,The ruin, they are past;And here you are at last,Your blood no longer vexed.The coffin has you fast,The clod will have you next.
But fear you not the clod,Nor ever doubt the grave:The roses and the sodWill not forswear the wave.The gift the river gaveIs now but theirs to cover:The mistress and the slaveAre gone now, and the lover.
You left the two to findTheir own way to the brink:Then--shall I call you blind?--You chose to plunge and sink.God knows the gall we drinkIs not the mead we cry for,Nor was it, I should think--For you--a thing to die for.
Could we have done the same,Had we been in your place?--This funeral of your nameThrows no light on the case.--Could we have made the chase,And felt then as you felt?--But what’s this on your face,Blue, curious, like a welt?
There were some ropes of sandRecorded long ago,But none, I understand,Of water. Is it so?And she--she struck the blow,You but a neck behind....You saw the river flow--Still, shall I call you blind?
Words in this poem
- cynic a.
- Having the qualities of a surly dog; snarling; captious; currish. [L. cynicus of the sect of Cynics, fr. Gr. Hound.]
- clod n.
- A lump or mass, especially of earth, turf, or clay. [OE. clodde, latter form of clot. See Clot.]
- forswear v. t.
- To reject or renounce upon oath; hence, to renounce earnestly, determinedly, or with protestations. [OE. forsweren, forswerien, AS. forswerian; pref. for- + swerian to swear. See For-, and Swear, v. i.]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Whip is in the public domain. This text is taken from The town down the river, Project Gutenberg ebook #76699; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edwin Arlington Robinson, The Whip, in The Town Down the River (1910), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #76699, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/robinson-town-down-river/the-whip.html, id L17195.
Form and metre
The Whip is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBCBC. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABBCBC longA · castB · wrongA · pastB · lastB · vexedC · fastB · nextC
- 2 ABABBCBC clodA · graveB · sodA · waveB · gaveB · coverC · slaveB · loverC
- 3 ABABBCBC findA · brinkB · blindA · sinkB · drinkB · forC · thinkB · forC
- 4 ABABBCBC sameA · placeB · nameA · caseB · chaseB · feltC · faceB · weltC
- 5 ABABBCBC sandA · agoB · understandA · soB · blowB · behindC · flowB · blindC
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 iambic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The doubt you fought so long, | 6 | ······ |
| The cynic net you cast, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The tyranny, the wrong, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| The ruin, they are past; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And here you are at last, | 6 | ······ |
| Your blood no longer vexed. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The coffin has you fast, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The clod will have you next. | 6 | ······ |
| But fear you not the clod, | 6 | ······ |
| Nor ever doubt the grave: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The roses and the sod | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Will not forswear the wave. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The gift the river gave | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Is now but theirs to cover: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The mistress and the slave | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Are gone now, and the lover. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| You left the two to find | 6 | ······ |
| Their own way to the brink: | 6 | ······ |
| Then--shall I call you blind?-- | 6 | ······ |
| You chose to plunge and sink. | 6 | ······ |
| God knows the gall we drink | 6 | ······ |
| Is not the mead we cry for, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor was it, I should think-- | 6 | ······ |
| For you--a thing to die for. | 7 | ······· |
| Could we have done the same, | 6 | ······ |
| Had we been in your place?-- | 6 | ······ |
| This funeral of your name | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Throws no light on the case.-- | 6 | ······ |
| Could we have made the chase, | 6 | ······ |
| And felt then as you felt?-- | 6 | ······ |
| But what’s this on your face, | 6 | ······ |
| Blue, curious, like a welt? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There were some ropes of sand | 6 | ······ |
| Recorded long ago, | 6 | ˘/˘·˘/ |
| But none, I understand, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Of water. Is it so? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And she--she struck the blow, | 6 | ······ |
| You but a neck behind.... | 6 | ······ |
| You saw the river flow-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Still, shall I call you blind? | 6 | ······ |
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.