With a Foreword, by, Waldo Frank
Oracular.Redolent of fermenting syrup,Purple of the dusk,Deep-rooted cane.
Words in this poem
- oracular a.
- Of or pertaining to an oracle; uttering oracles; forecasting the future; as, an oracular tongue. [L. oracularius. See Oracle.]
- redolent a.
- Diffusing odor or fragrance; spreading sweet scent; scented; odorous; smelling; -- usually followed by of. [L. redolens, -entis, p. pr. of redolere to emit a scent, diffuse an odor; pref. red-, re-, re- + olere to emit a smell. See Odor.]
- syrup n.
- A thick and viscid liquid made from the juice of fruits, herbs, etc., boiled with sugar. [F. sirop (cf. It. siroppo, Sp. jarabe, jarope, LL. siruppus, syrupus), fr. Ar. sharab a drink, wine, coffee, sirup. Cf. Sherbet.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
With a Foreword, by, Waldo Frank 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, With a Foreword, by, Waldo Frank, in Cane (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/toomer-cane/with-a-foreword-by-waldo-frank.html, id L01555.
Form and metre
With a Foreword, by, Waldo Frank is 4 lines in a single stanza. The lines average 5.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oracular. | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Redolent of fermenting syrup, | 9 | /˘˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Purple of the dusk, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Deep-rooted cane. | 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.