Box Seat
Her eyes are weak. They are bluish and watery from reading newspapers.The blue is steel. It gimlets Dan while her mouth flaps amiably to him.
Dan: Nothing for you to see, old mussel-head. Dare I show you? If Idid, delirium would furnish you headlines for a month. Now look here.Thats enough. Go long, woman. Say some nasty thing and I’ll kill you.Huh. Better damned sight not. Ta-ta, Mrs. Pribby.
“Well, you havent told me, you havent answered my question, stranger.What brought you here?”
“Muriel, I love you. I want you, whatever the world of Pribby says.Damn your Pribby. Who is she to dictate my love? I’ve stood enough ofher. Enough of you. Come here.”
Dan fidgets, and disturbs his neighbors. His neighbors glare at him.He glares back without seeing them. The man whose corns have been trodupon speaks to him.
“Dont tell me to shhh. Tell him. That man there. He started everything.If what he wanted was to start a fight, why didnt he say so?”
Me, horizontally above her.Action: perfect strokes downward oblique.Hence, man dominates because of limitation.Or, so it shall be until women learn their stuff.
Do not shrink. Do not be afraid of me.JesusSee how my eyes look at you.the Son of GodI too was made in His image.was once—I give you the rose.
Words in this poem
- amiably adv.
- In an amiable manner.
- damned a.
- Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
- damn v. t.
- To condemn; to declare guilty; to doom; to adjudge to punishment; to sentence; to censhure. [OE. damnen dap), OF. damner, dampner, F. damner, fr. L. damnare, damnatum, to condemn, fr. damnum damage, a fine, penalty. Cf. Condemn, Damage.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- 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
Box Seat is in the public domain. This text is taken from Cane, Project Gutenberg ebook #60093; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean Toomer, Box Seat, in Cane (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/toomer-cane/box-seat.html, id L01576.
Form and metre
Box Seat is 27 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 5 A-A himA · trod · himA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Her eyes are weak. They are bluish and watery from reading newspapers. | 17 | ······/˘·/˘·/˘/·˘ |
| The blue is steel. It gimlets Dan while her mouth flaps amiably to him. | 16 | ············/˘·· |
| Dan: Nothing for you to see, old mussel-head. Dare I show you? If I | 17 | ·/˘·····/˘······· |
| did, delirium would furnish you headlines for a month. Now look here. | 16 | ·˘/˘·/˘·/······· |
| Thats enough. Go long, woman. Say some nasty thing and I’ll kill you. | 16 | ·˘/··/˘··/˘····· |
| Huh. Better damned sight not. Ta-ta, Mrs. Pribby. | 12 | ·/˘·····/˘·· |
| “Well, you havent told me, you havent answered my question, stranger. | 16 | ·········/˘·/˘/˘ |
| What brought you here?” | 4 | ···· |
| “Muriel, I love you. I want you, whatever the world of Pribby says. | 17 | /˘·······/˘······ |
| Damn your Pribby. Who is she to dictate my love? I’ve stood enough of | 17 | ········˘/····˘/· |
| her. Enough of you. Come here.” | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Dan fidgets, and disturbs his neighbors. His neighbors glare at him. | 15 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘·/˘··· |
| He glares back without seeing them. The man whose corns have been trod | 14 | ·····/········ |
| upon speaks to him. | 5 | ····· |
| “Dont tell me to shhh. Tell him. That man there. He started everything. | 16 | ···········/˘/˘· |
| If what he wanted was to start a fight, why didnt he say so?” | 15 | ···/˘·········· |
| Me, horizontally above her. | 9 | ··˘/˘˘··· |
| Action: perfect strokes downward oblique. | 9 | /˘/··/˘˘/ |
| Hence, man dominates because of limitation. | 12 | ··/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Or, so it shall be until women learn their stuff. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| Do not shrink. Do not be afraid of me. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Jesus | 2 | /˘ |
| See how my eyes look at you. | 7 | ······· |
| the Son of God | 4 | ···· |
| I too was made in His image. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| was once— | 2 | ·· |
| I give you the rose. | 5 | ····· |
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.