Halsey: Ya
He stands by the hearth, rocking backward and forward. He stretches hishands out to the fire. He washes them in the warm glow of the flames.They never get cold, but he warms them.
Halsey: An I’ve yet t hear about that basis. Been waitin long enough,God knows. Seems t me like youd take pity a feller if nothin more.
Lewis: Something, yes. Layman here could have given me quite a deal,but the incentive to his keeping quiet is so much greater than anythingI could have offered him to open up, that I crossed him off my mind.And you—
Lewis: Life has already told him more than he is capable of knowing. Ithas given him in excess of what he can receive. I have been offered.Stuff in his stomach curdled, and he vomited me.
Halsey directs Kabnis, showing him how to place the handle in the vise,and cut it down. The knife hangs. Kabnis thinks that it must be dull.He jerks it hard. The tool goes deep and shaves too much off. Mr.Ramsay smiles brokenly at him.
Mr. Ramsay (to Halsey): Still breakin in the new hand, eh, Halsey?Seems like a likely enough faller once he gets th hang of it.
Words in this poem
- feller n.
- One who, or that which, fells, knocks or cuts down; a machine for felling trees.
- incentive a.
- Inciting; encouraging or moving; rousing to action; stimulative. [L. incentivus, from incinere to strike up or set the tune; pref. in- + canere to sing. See Enchant, Chant.]
- vise n.
- An instrument consisting of two jaws, closing by a screw, lever, cam, or the like, for holding work, as in filing. [F. vis a screw, winding stairs, OF. vis, viz, fr. L. vitis a vine; probably akin to E. withy.]
- brokenly adv.
- In a broken, interrupted manner; in a broken state; in broken language.
- faller n.
- One who, or that which, falls.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Halsey: Ya 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: Ya, in Cane (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/toomer-cane/halsey-ya.html, id L01584.
Form and metre
Halsey: Ya is 18 lines in 6 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 78% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 14.6 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| He stands by the hearth, rocking backward and forward. He stretches his | 16 | ·····/˘/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| hands out to the fire. He washes them in the warm glow of the flames. | 16 | ····/·/˘········ |
| They never get cold, but he warms them. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Halsey: An I’ve yet t hear about that basis. Been waitin long enough, | 18 | /˘········/˘····˘/ |
| God knows. Seems t me like youd take pity a feller if nothin more. | 17 | ········/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Lewis: Something, yes. Layman here could have given me quite a deal, | 15 | /˘/˘·/˘···/···· |
| but the incentive to his keeping quiet is so much greater than anything | 19 | ··˘/˘··/˘/···/˘·/˘· |
| I could have offered him to open up, that I crossed him off my mind. | 17 | ···/˘··/˘········ |
| And you— | 2 | ·· |
| Lewis: Life has already told him more than he is capable of knowing. It | 18 | /˘··˘/˘······/˘·/· |
| has given him in excess of what he can receive. I have been offered. | 17 | ·/··˘/····˘/···/˘ |
| Stuff in his stomach curdled, and he vomited me. | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| Halsey directs Kabnis, showing him how to place the handle in the vise, | 18 | /˘˘/··/˘·····/˘··· |
| and cut it down. The knife hangs. Kabnis thinks that it must be dull. | 15 | ··············· |
| He jerks it hard. The tool goes deep and shaves too much off. Mr. | 15 | ·············/˘ |
| Ramsay smiles brokenly at him. | 8 | /˘·/˘˘·· |
| Mr. Ramsay (to Halsey): Still breakin in the new hand, eh, Halsey? | 17 | /˘/··/˘········/˘ |
| Seems like a likely enough faller once he gets th hang of it. | 15 | ···/˘˘//˘······ |
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.