Halsey: Wheeee!
Layman, lunch finished long ago, rises, heavily. He shakes hands withLewis.
Lewis: Thanks, yes. You have never felt her, have you, Halsey? Well,no, I guess not. I dont suppose you can. Nor can she... Old man?Halsey, some one lives down there? I’ve never heard of him. Tell me—
Lewis passes Halsey at the door. Halsey’s cheeks form a vacant smile.His eyes are wide awake, watching for the wagon to turn from BroadStreet into his road.
White-man’s land.Niggers, sing.Burn, bear black childrenTill poor rivers bringRest, and sweet gloryIn Camp Ground.
Words in this poem
- lunch n.
- A luncheon; specifically, a light repast between breakfast and dinner. [Of uncertain etymol. Cf. Prov. Eng. nunc a lump.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Halsey: Wheeee! 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, Halsey: Wheeee!, in Cane (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/toomer-cane/halsey-wheeee.html, id L01585.
Form and metre
Halsey: Wheeee! is 14 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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.
- 4 -A-A-- land · singA · children · bringA · glory · ground
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Layman, lunch finished long ago, rises, heavily. He shakes hands with | 16 | /˘·/˘·˘//˘/˘···· |
| Lewis. | 2 | /˘ |
| Lewis: Thanks, yes. You have never felt her, have you, Halsey? Well, | 14 | /˘····/····/˘· |
| no, I guess not. I dont suppose you can. Nor can she... Old man? | 15 | ······˘/······· |
| Halsey, some one lives down there? I’ve never heard of him. Tell me— | 14 | /˘······/····· |
| Lewis passes Halsey at the door. Halsey’s cheeks form a vacant smile. | 17 | /˘/˘/˘···/˘···/˘· |
| His eyes are wide awake, watching for the wagon to turn from Broad | 16 | ····˘//˘··/˘···· |
| Street into his road. | 5 | ····· |
| White-man’s land. | 3 | ··· |
| Niggers, sing. | 3 | /˘· |
| Burn, bear black children | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Till poor rivers bring | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Rest, and sweet glory | 5 | ···/˘ |
| In Camp Ground. | 3 | ··· |
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.