Sic Vita
‘It is but thin soil where we stand; I have felt my roots in aricher ere this. I have seen a bunch of violets in a glass vase,tied loosely with a straw, which reminded me of myself.’--TheWeek.
I am a parcel of vain strivings tiedBy a chance bond together,Dangling this way and that, their linksWere made so loose and wide,Methinks,For milder weather.
A bunch of violets without their roots,And sorrel intermixed,Encircled by a wisp of strawOnce coiled about their shoots,The lawBy which I’m fixed.
A nosegay which Time clutched from outThose fair Elysian fields,With weeds and broken stems, in haste,Doth make the rabble routThat wasteThe day he yields.
And here I bloom for a short hour unseen,Drinking my juices up,With no root in the landTo keep my branches green,But standIn a bare cup.
Some tender buds were left upon my stemIn mimicry of life,But ah! the children will not know,Till time has withered them,The woeWith which they’re rife.
But now I see I was not plucked for nought,And after in life’s vaseOf glass set while I might survive,But by a kind hand broughtAliveTo a strange place.
That stock thus thinned will soon redeem its hours,And by another year,Such as God knows, with freer air,More fruits and fairer flowersWill bear,While I droop here.
Words in this poem
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- wisp n.
- A small bundle, as of straw or other like substance. [OE. wisp, wips; probably akin to D. & G. wisch, Icel. visk, and perhaps to L. virga a twig, rod. Cf. Verge a rod, Whisk, n.]
- nosegay n.
- A bunch of odorous and showy flowers; a bouquet; a posy. [Nose + gay in the sense of a gay or showy thing.]
- elysian a.
- Pertaining, or the abode of the blessed after death; hence, yielding the highest pleasures; exceedingly delightful; beatific. [L. Elysius, fr. Elysium.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- rife a.
- Prevailing; prevalent; abounding. [AS. rif abundant, or Icel. rifr munificent; akin to OD. riff, rijve, abundant.]
- freer n.
- One who frees, or sets free.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Sic Vita 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, Sic Vita, in Poems of Nature (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59988, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thoreau-poems/sic-vita.html, id L02795.
Form and metre
Sic Vita is 46 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABCACB, complete in 7 of its 8 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 37% 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 A-A- aA · vase · theA · week
- 2 ABCACB tiedA · togetherB · linksC · wideA · methinksC · weatherB
- 3 ABCACB rootsA · intermixedB · strawC · shootsA · lawC · fixedB
- 4 ABCACB outA · fieldsB · hasteC · routA · wasteC · yieldsB
- 5 ABCACB unseenA · upB · landC · greenA · standC · cupB
- 6 ABCACB stemA · lifeB · knowC · themA · woeC · rifeB
- 7 ABCACB noughtA · vaseB · surviveC · broughtA · aliveC · placeB
- 8 ABCACB hoursA · yearB · airC · flowersA · bearC · hereB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ‘It is but thin soil where we stand; I have felt my roots in a | 15 | ··············· |
| richer ere this. I have seen a bunch of violets in a glass vase, | 16 | /˘········/˘···· |
| tied loosely with a straw, which reminded me of myself.’--The | 15 | ·/˘····˘/˘···/· |
| Week. | 1 | · |
| I am a parcel of vain strivings tied | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| By a chance bond together, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Dangling this way and that, their links | 8 | /˘······ |
| Were made so loose and wide, | 6 | ······ |
| Methinks, | 2 | ˘/ |
| For milder weather. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| A bunch of violets without their roots, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And sorrel intermixed, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Encircled by a wisp of straw | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Once coiled about their shoots, | 7 | ··˘···· |
| The law | 2 | ·· |
| By which I’m fixed. | 4 | ···· |
| A nosegay which Time clutched from out | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Those fair Elysian fields, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| With weeds and broken stems, in haste, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Doth make the rabble rout | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That waste | 2 | ·· |
| The day he yields. | 4 | ···· |
| And here I bloom for a short hour unseen, | 10 | ·······/˘/ |
| Drinking my juices up, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| With no root in the land | 6 | ······ |
| To keep my branches green, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But stand | 2 | ·· |
| In a bare cup. | 4 | ···· |
| Some tender buds were left upon my stem | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| In mimicry of life, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| But ah! the children will not know, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Till time has withered them, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The woe | 2 | ·· |
| With which they’re rife. | 4 | ···· |
| But now I see I was not plucked for nought, | 10 | ·········· |
| And after in life’s vase | 6 | ······ |
| Of glass set while I might survive, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But by a kind hand brought | 6 | ······ |
| Alive | 2 | ˘/ |
| To a strange place. | 4 | ···· |
| That stock thus thinned will soon redeem its hours, | 10 | ······˘/·/ |
| And by another year, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Such as God knows, with freer air, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| More fruits and fairer flowers | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Will bear, | 2 | ·· |
| While I droop here. | 4 | ···· |
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.