For the Century Magazine
"Clam O! Fres' Clam!" How strange it sounds and sweet,The Dago's cry along the New York street!"Dago" we call him, like the thoughtless crowd;And yet this humble man may well be proudTo hail from Petrarch's land, Boccaccio's home,--Firenze, Gubbio, Venezia, Rome,--From fair Italia, whose enchanted soilTransforms the lowly cotton-seed to olive-oil.
To me his chant, with alien accent sung,Brings back an echo of great Virgil's tongue:It seems to cry against the city's woe,In liquid Latin syllables,--Clamo!As thro' the crowded street his cart he jamsAnd cries aloud, ah, think of more than clams!Receive his secret plaint with pity warm,And grant Italia's plea for Tenement-House Reform!
Words in this poem
- dago n.
- A nickname given to a person of Spanish (or, by extension, Portuguese or Italian) descent. [U. S.] [Cf. Sp. Diego, E. James.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For the Century Magazine 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 the Century Magazine, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/for-the-century-magazine.html, id L22994.
Form and metre
For the Century Magazine is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDD sweetA · streetA · crowdB · proudB · homeC · romeC · soilD · oilD
- 2 AA--BBCC sungA · tongueA · woe · clamo · jamsB · clamsB · warmC · reformC
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 iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Clam O! Fres' Clam!" How strange it sounds and sweet, | 10 | ·········· |
| The Dago's cry along the New York street! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| "Dago" we call him, like the thoughtless crowd; | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And yet this humble man may well be proud | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To hail from Petrarch's land, Boccaccio's home,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Firenze, Gubbio, Venezia, Rome,-- | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| From fair Italia, whose enchanted soil | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Transforms the lowly cotton-seed to olive-oil. | 12 | ˘/·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| To me his chant, with alien accent sung, | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| Brings back an echo of great Virgil's tongue: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| It seems to cry against the city's woe, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In liquid Latin syllables,--Clamo! | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| As thro' the crowded street his cart he jams | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And cries aloud, ah, think of more than clams! | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Receive his secret plaint with pity warm, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| And grant Italia's plea for Tenement-House Reform! | 12 | ··˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
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.