Gretchen
Up to this time, well-away!I concealed the truth from day,Went on loving skilfully.Now my fault at length is clear:That the hour of need is near,From my shape all eyes can see.So my mother gives me blows,So my father curses throws;They both treat me savagely.In the house alone I sit,Dare not walk about the street,Nor at play in public be.
If I walk about the street,Every one I chance to meetScans me like a prodigy:When they see the load I bear,All the neighbours nudge and stare,Gaping while I hasten by;With their elbows nudge, and soWith their finger point, as thoughI were some monstrosity;Me with nods and winks they spurn,Judge me fit in flames to burnFor one lapse from honesty.
Why this tedious tale prolong?Short, I am become a song,In all mouths a mockery.By this am I done to death,Sorrow kills me, chokes my breath,Ever weep I bitterly.One thing makes me still more grieve,That my friend his home must leaveFor the same cause instantly;Therefore is my sadness soMultiplied, weighed down with woe,For he too will part from me.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- savagely adv.
- In a savage manner.
- prodigy n.
- Something extraordinary, or out of the usual course of nature, from which omens are drawn; a portent; as, eclipses and meteors were anciently deemed prodigies. [L. prodigium; pro before + (perh.) a word appearing in adagium adage: cf. F. prodige. Cf. Adage.]
- nudge v. t.
- To touch gently, as with the elbow, in order to call attention or convey intimation. [Cf. Prov. G. knütschen to squeeze, pinch, E. Knock.]
- monstrosity n.
- The state of being monstrous, or out of the common order of nature; that which is monstrous; a monster. South. [Cf. F. monstruosité. See Monstrous.]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- bitterly adv.
- In a bitter manner.
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gretchen is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wine, Women, and Song Mediaeval Latin Students' songs; Now first translated into English verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #18044; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Addington Symonds, Gretchen, in Wine, Women and Song (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18044, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/symonds-wine-women/gretchen.html, id L11849.
Form and metre
Gretchen is 36 lines in 3 stanzas of 12 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 AA-BBCDD---C awayA · dayA · skilfully · clearB · nearB · seeC · blowsD · throwsD · savagely · sit · street · beC
- 2 AA-BB-CC-DD- streetA · meetA · prodigy · bearB · stareB · by · soC · thoughC · monstrosity · spurnD · burnD · honesty
- 3 AA-BB-CC-DD- prolongA · songA · mockery · deathB · breathB · bitterly · grieveC · leaveC · instantly · soD · woeD · me
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Up to this time, well-away! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| I concealed the truth from day, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Went on loving skilfully. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Now my fault at length is clear: | 7 | ······· |
| That the hour of need is near, | 7 | ··/···· |
| From my shape all eyes can see. | 7 | ······· |
| So my mother gives me blows, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So my father curses throws; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| They both treat me savagely. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| In the house alone I sit, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Dare not walk about the street, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor at play in public be. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| If I walk about the street, | 7 | ······· |
| Every one I chance to meet | 7 | /˘····· |
| Scans me like a prodigy: | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| When they see the load I bear, | 7 | ······· |
| All the neighbours nudge and stare, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Gaping while I hasten by; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| With their elbows nudge, and so | 7 | ··/···· |
| With their finger point, as though | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I were some monstrosity; | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Me with nods and winks they spurn, | 7 | ······· |
| Judge me fit in flames to burn | 7 | ······· |
| For one lapse from honesty. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Why this tedious tale prolong? | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Short, I am become a song, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| In all mouths a mockery. | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| By this am I done to death, | 7 | ······· |
| Sorrow kills me, chokes my breath, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Ever weep I bitterly. | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| One thing makes me still more grieve, | 7 | ······· |
| That my friend his home must leave | 7 | ······· |
| For the same cause instantly; | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Therefore is my sadness so | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Multiplied, weighed down with woe, | 7 | /˘····· |
| For he too will part from me. | 7 | ······· |
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.