Lines
Though all the Fates should prove unkind,Leave not your native land behind.The ship, becalmed, at length stands still;The steed must rest beneath the hill;But swiftly still our fortunes paceTo find us out in every place.
The vessel, though her masts be firm,Beneath her copper bears a worm;Around the Cape, across the Line,Till fields of ice her course confine;It matters not how smooth the breeze,How shallow or how deep the seas,Whether she bears Manilla twine,Or in her hold Madeira wine,Or China teas, or Spanish hides,In port or quarantine she rides;Far from New England’s blustering shore,New England’s worm her hulk shall bore,And sink her in the Indian seas,--Twine, wine, and hides, and China teas.
Words in this poem
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- quarantine n.
- A space of forty days; -- used of Lent. [F. quarantaine, OF. quaranteine, fr. F. quarante forty, L. quadraginta, akin to quattuor four, and E. four: cf. It. quarantina, quarentine. See Four, and cf. Qu]
- hulk n.
- The body of a ship or decked vessel of any kind; esp., the body of an old vessel laid by as unfit for service. [OE. hulke a heavy ship, AS. hulc a light, swift ship; akin to D. hulk a ship of burden, G. holk, OHG. holcho; perh. fr. LL. holcas, Gr. Wolf, Holcad.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Nature, Project Gutenberg ebook #59988; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry David Thoreau, Lines, in Poems of Nature (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59988, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thoreau-poems/lines.html, id L02805.
Form and metre
Lines is 20 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 AABBCC unkindA · behindA · stillB · hillB · paceC · placeC
- 2 AABBCCBBDDEECC firmA · wormA · lineB · confineB · breezeC · seasC · twineB · wineB · hidesD · ridesD · shoreE · boreE · seasC · teasC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Though all the Fates should prove unkind, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Leave not your native land behind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The ship, becalmed, at length stands still; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The steed must rest beneath the hill; | 8 | ········ |
| But swiftly still our fortunes pace | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| To find us out in every place. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The vessel, though her masts be firm, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Beneath her copper bears a worm; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Around the Cape, across the Line, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Till fields of ice her course confine; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| It matters not how smooth the breeze, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| How shallow or how deep the seas, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Whether she bears Manilla twine, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Or in her hold Madeira wine, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Or China teas, or Spanish hides, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In port or quarantine she rides; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Far from New England’s blustering shore, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| New England’s worm her hulk shall bore, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And sink her in the Indian seas,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Twine, wine, and hides, and China teas. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
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.