Part I, Section VIII

Henry Timrod (1828–1867) · 1860–1867

iambic pentameter · ABABCC · 24 lines · from Poems

Need there was none of censure or of praiseTo mould him to the kind parental hand;Yet there was ever something in his ways,Which those about him could not understand;A self-withdrawn and independent bliss,Beside the father's love, the mother's kiss.

For oft, when he believed himself alone,They caught brief snatches of mysterious rhymes,Which he would murmur in an undertone,Like a pleased bee's in summer; and at timesA strange far look would come into his eyes,As if he saw a vision in the skies.

And he upon a simple leaf would poreAs if its very texture unto himHad some deep meaning; sometimes by the door,From noon until a summer-day grew dim,He lay and watched the clouds; and to his thoughtNight with her stars but fitful slumbers brought.

In the long hours of twilight, when the breezeTalked in low tones along the woodland rills,Or the loud North its stormy minstrelsiesBlent with wild noises from the distant hills,The boy--his rosy hand against his earCurved like a sea-shell--hushed as some rapt seer,

Words in this poem

mould n.: Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
parental a.: Of or pertaining to a parent or to parents; as, parental authority; parental obligations. [L. parentalis.]
undertone n.: A low or subdued tone or utterance; a tone less loud than usual.
fitful a.: Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
blent p. p.: Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
rapt n.: An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Part I, Section VIII is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Henry Timrod; with Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #845; 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 Timrod, Part I, Section VIII, in Poems (1860–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #845, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/timrod-poems/part-i-section-viii.html, id L10468.

Form and metre

Part I, Section VIII is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in iambic pentameter.

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 ABABCC praise^A · hand^B · ways^A · understand^B · bliss^C · kiss^C
2 ABABCC alone^A · rhymes^B · undertone^A · times^B · eyes^C · skies^C
3 ABABCC pore^A · him^B · door^A · dim^B · thought^C · brought^C
4 ABABCC breeze^A · rills^B · minstrelsies^A · hills^B · ear^C · seer^C

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
Need there was none of censure or of praise	10	·····/˘···
To mould him to the kind parental hand;	10	······˘/˘·
Yet there was ever something in his ways,	10	···/˘/˘···
Which those about him could not understand;	10	········˘/
A self-withdrawn and independent bliss,	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
Beside the father's love, the mother's kiss.	10	˘/·/˘··/˘·
For oft, when he believed himself alone,	10	····˘/˘/˘/
They caught brief snatches of mysterious rhymes,	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
Which he would murmur in an undertone,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Like a pleased bee's in summer; and at times	10	·····/˘···
A strange far look would come into his eyes,	10	··········
As if he saw a vision in the skies.	10	·····/˘···
And he upon a simple leaf would pore	10	·····/˘···
As if its very texture unto him	10	···/˘/˘···
Had some deep meaning; sometimes by the door,	10	···/˘/····
From noon until a summer-day grew dim,	10	·····/˘···
He lay and watched the clouds; and to his thought	10	··········
Night with her stars but fitful slumbers brought.	10	·····/˘/˘·
In the long hours of twilight, when the breeze	10	···/·/····
Talked in low tones along the woodland rills,	10	····˘/·/··
Or the loud North its stormy minstrelsies	9	·····/˘··
Blent with wild noises from the distant hills,	10	···/˘··/˘·
The boy--his rosy hand against his ear	10	···/˘·····
Curved like a sea-shell--hushed as some rapt seer,	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.

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