The Doctor of Geneva
The doctor of Geneva stamped the sandThat lay impounding the Pacific swell,Patted his stove-pipe hat and tugged his shawl.
Lacustrine man had never been assailedBy such long-rolling opulent cataracts,Unless Racine or Bossuet held the like.
He did not quail. A man so used to plumbThe multifarious heavens felt no aweBefore these visible, voluble delugings,
Which yet found means to set his simmering mindSpinning and hissing with oracularNotations of the wild, the ruinous waste,
Until the steeples of his city clanked and sprangIn an unburgherly apocalypse.The doctor used his handkerchief and sighed.
Words in this poem
- lacustrine a.
- Found in, or pertaining to, lakes or ponds, or growing in them; as, lacustrine flowers. Lacustrine deposits (Geol.), the deposits which have been accumulated in fresh-water areas. [L. lacus lake: cf. F. lacustral, lacustre.]
- multifarious a.
- Having multiplicity; having great diversity or variety; of various kinds; diversified; made up of many differing parts; manifold. [L. multifarius; multus much, many. Cf. Bifarious.]
- oracular a.
- Of or pertaining to an oracle; uttering oracles; forecasting the future; as, an oracular tongue. [L. oracularius. See Oracle.]
- apocalypse n.
- The revelation delivered to St. John, in the isle of Patmos, near the close of the first century, forming the last book of the New Testament. [L. apocalypsis, Gr. apocalypse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Doctor of Geneva is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harmonium, Project Gutenberg ebook #78743; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Wallace Stevens, The Doctor of Geneva, in Harmonium (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #78743, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stevens-harmonium/the-doctor-of-geneva.html, id L01020.
Form and metre
The Doctor of Geneva is 15 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. 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 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 47% 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 doctor of Geneva stamped the sand | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| That lay impounding the Pacific swell, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Patted his stove-pipe hat and tugged his shawl. | 10 | /˘········ |
| Lacustrine man had never been assailed | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| By such long-rolling opulent cataracts, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Unless Racine or Bossuet held the like. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| He did not quail. A man so used to plumb | 10 | ·········· |
| The multifarious heavens felt no awe | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Before these visible, voluble delugings, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Which yet found means to set his simmering mind | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Spinning and hissing with oracular | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Notations of the wild, the ruinous waste, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| Until the steeples of his city clanked and sprang | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| In an unburgherly apocalypse. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The doctor used his handkerchief and sighed. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
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.