Messenger
The royal paunch of Pharaoh dangled worriedly,Not knowing where the wrong: viands once giant-likeCame to him thin and thinner—what rats gnawed?Horror, the swarm of slaves! The satraps sworeTheir wives’ bones hurt them when they lay abed,That before were soft and plump: the people howledThey’d boil the slaves three days to get their fat,Ending the famine. A haggard council heldDecrees the two hind molars, those two staunchestBusy labourers in the belly’s service, to be drawnFrom out each slave’s greased mouth, which soonFrom incapacity will lose the habitOf eating.
Words in this poem
- paunch n.
- The belly and its contents; the abdomen; also, the first stomach, or rumen, of ruminants. See Rumen. [OF. panch, pance, F. panse, L. pantex, panticis.]
- pharaoh n.
- A title by which the sovereigns of ancient Egypt were designated. [Heb. paroh; of Egyptian origin: cf. L. pharao, Gr. Faro.]
- abed adv.
- In bed, or on the bed. [Pref. a- in, on + bed.]
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- haggard a.
- Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed; as, a haggard or refractory hawk. Shak [F. hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. See Hedge, 1st Haw, and -ard.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Messenger is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Isaac Rosenberg, Project Gutenberg ebook #66889; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Isaac Rosenberg, Messenger, in Poems (1922), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66889, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rosenberg-poems/messenger.html, id L02482.
Form and metre
Messenger is 13 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 62% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The royal paunch of Pharaoh dangled worriedly, | 12 | ·/˘··/˘/˘··· |
| Not knowing where the wrong: viands once giant-like | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Came to him thin and thinner—what rats gnawed? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Horror, the swarm of slaves! The satraps swore | 10 | /˘········ |
| Their wives’ bones hurt them when they lay abed, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That before were soft and plump: the people howled | 11 | ········/˘· |
| They’d boil the slaves three days to get their fat, | 10 | ·········· |
| Ending the famine. A haggard council held | 11 | /˘·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Decrees the two hind molars, those two staunchest | 11 | ˘/·······/˘ |
| Busy labourers in the belly’s service, to be drawn | 14 | /˘·····/˘/˘··· |
| From out each slave’s greased mouth, which soon | 8 | ········ |
| From incapacity will lose the habit | 9 | ·˘/˘···/˘ |
| Of eating. | 3 | ·/˘ |
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.