For Archie Rutledge
Here's a half-a-dozen flies,Just about the proper sizeFor the trout of Dickey's Run,--Luck go with them every one!
Dainty little feathered beauties,Listen now, and learn your duties:Not to tangle in the box;Not to catch on logs or rocks,Boughs that wave or weeds that float,Nor in the angler's "pants" or coat!Not to lure the glutton frogFrom his banquet in the bog;Nor the lazy chub to fool,Splashing idly round the pool;Nor the sullen horned poutFrom the mud to hustle out!
None of this vulgarian crew,Dainty flies, is game for you.Darting swiftly through the airGuided by the angler's care,Light upon the flowing streamLike a winged fairy dream;Float upon the water dancing,Through the lights and shadows glancing,Till the rippling current brings you,And with quiet motion swings you,Where a speckled beauty liesWatching you with hungry eyes.
Here's your game and here's your prize!Hover near him, lure him, tease him,Do your very best to please him,Dancing on the water foamy,Like the frail and fair Salome,Till the monarch yields at last;Rises, and you have him fast!Then remember well your duty,--Do not lose, but land, your booty;For the finest fish of all isSalvelinus Fontinalis.
So, you plumed illusions, go,Let my comrade Archie knowEvery day he goes a-fishingI'll be with him in well-wishing.Most of all when lunch is laidIn the dappled orchard shade,With Will, Corinne, and Dixie too,Sitting as we used to doRound the white cloth on the grassWhile the lazy hours pass,And the brook's contented tuneLulls the sleepy afternoon,--Then's the time my heart will beWith that pleasant company!
Words in this poem
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- tangle v. t.
- To unite or knit together confusedly; to interweave or interlock, as threads, so as to make it difficult to unravel the knot; to entangle; to ravel. [A frequentative fr. tang seaweed; hence, to twist like seaweed. See Tang seaweed, and cf. Tangle, n.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- hustle v. t.
- To shake together in confusion; to push, jostle, or crowd rudely; to handle roughly; as, to hustle a person out of a room. [D. hustelen to shake, fr. husten to shake. Cf. Hotchpotch.]
- vulgarian n.
- A vulgar person; one who has vulgar ideas. Used also adjectively.
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- hover n.
- A cover; a shelter; a protection. Carew. C. Kingsley. [Etymol. doubtful.]
- lunch n.
- A luncheon; specifically, a light repast between breakfast and dinner. [Of uncertain etymol. Cf. Prov. Eng. nunc a lump.]
- dappled a.
- Marked with spots of different shades of color; spotted; variegated; as, a dapple horse.
- corinne n.
- The common gazelle (Gazella dorcas). See Gazelle.
- dixie n.
- A colloquial name for the Southern portion of the United States, esp. during the Civil War. [U.S.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For Archie Rutledge is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; 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 Van Dyke, For Archie Rutledge, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/for-archie-rutledge.html, id L23003.
Form and metre
For Archie Rutledge is 53 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 AABB fliesA · sizeA · runB · oneB
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF beautiesA · dutiesA · boxB · rocksB · floatC · coatC · frogD · bogD · foolE · poolE · poutF · outF
- 3 AABBCCDDAAEE crewA · youA · airB · careB · streamC · dreamC · dancingD · glancingD · youA · youA · liesE · eyesE
- 4 -AABBCCDD-- prize · himA · himA · foamyB · salomeB · lastC · fastC · dutyD · bootyD · is · fontinalis
- 5 AABBCCDDEEFF-- goA · knowA · fishingB · wishingB · laidC · shadeC · tooD · doD · grassE · passE · tuneF · afternoonF · be · company
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Here's a half-a-dozen flies, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Just about the proper size | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For the trout of Dickey's Run,-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Luck go with them every one! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Dainty little feathered beauties, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Listen now, and learn your duties: | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Not to tangle in the box; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Not to catch on logs or rocks, | 7 | ······· |
| Boughs that wave or weeds that float, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor in the angler's "pants" or coat! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Not to lure the glutton frog | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From his banquet in the bog; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nor the lazy chub to fool, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Splashing idly round the pool; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Nor the sullen horned pout | 7 | ··/˘·˘· |
| From the mud to hustle out! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| None of this vulgarian crew, | 8 | ···˘/˘˘· |
| Dainty flies, is game for you. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Darting swiftly through the air | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Guided by the angler's care, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Light upon the flowing stream | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Like a winged fairy dream; | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Float upon the water dancing, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Through the lights and shadows glancing, | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| Till the rippling current brings you, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| And with quiet motion swings you, | 7 | ··//˘·· |
| Where a speckled beauty lies | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Watching you with hungry eyes. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Here's your game and here's your prize! | 7 | ······· |
| Hover near him, lure him, tease him, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Do your very best to please him, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Dancing on the water foamy, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Like the frail and fair Salome, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Till the monarch yields at last; | 7 | ··/···· |
| Rises, and you have him fast! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Then remember well your duty,-- | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Do not lose, but land, your booty; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For the finest fish of all is | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Salvelinus Fontinalis. | 8 | ········ |
| So, you plumed illusions, go, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Let my comrade Archie know | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Every day he goes a-fishing | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| I'll be with him in well-wishing. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Most of all when lunch is laid | 7 | ······· |
| In the dappled orchard shade, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| With Will, Corinne, and Dixie too, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Sitting as we used to do | 7 | /˘····· |
| Round the white cloth on the grass | 7 | ······· |
| While the lazy hours pass, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And the brook's contented tune | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Lulls the sleepy afternoon,-- | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Then's the time my heart will be | 7 | ······· |
| With that pleasant company! | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
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.