Native Moments
Native moments--when you come upon me--ah you are here now,Give me now libidinous joys only,Give me the drench of my passions, give me life coarse and rank,To-day I go consort with Nature’s darlings, to-night too,I am for those who believe in loose delights, I share the midnightorgies of young men,I dance with the dancers and drink with the drinkers,The echoes ring with our indecent calls, I pick out some low personfor my dearest friend,He shall be lawless, rude, illiterate, he shall be one condemn’d byothers for deeds done,I will play a part no longer, why should I exile myself from my companions?O you shunn’d persons, I at least do not shun you,I come forthwith in your midst, I will be your poet,I will be more to you than to any of the rest.
Words in this poem
- libidinous a.
- Having lustful desires; characterized by lewdness; sensual; lascivious. [L. libidinosus, fr. libido, libidinis, pleasure, desire, lust, fr. libet, lubet, it pleases: cf. F. libidineux. See Lief.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Native Moments is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, Native Moments, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/native-moments.html, id L03857.
Form and metre
Native Moments is 15 lines in a single stanza. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.6 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% 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.
- 1 ---A-B-B--B-A-- now · only · rank · tooA · midnight · menB · drinkers · personB · friend · by · doneB · companions · youA · poet · rest
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Native moments--when you come upon me--ah you are here now, | 15 | /˘/˘··········· |
| Give me now libidinous joys only, | 10 | ···˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Give me the drench of my passions, give me life coarse and rank, | 14 | ······/˘······ |
| To-day I go consort with Nature’s darlings, to-night too, | 14 | ····˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| I am for those who believe in loose delights, I share the midnight | 16 | ·····˘/··˘/···/· |
| orgies of young men, | 5 | /˘··· |
| I dance with the dancers and drink with the drinkers, | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| The echoes ring with our indecent calls, I pick out some low person | 18 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘······/˘ |
| for my dearest friend, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| He shall be lawless, rude, illiterate, he shall be one condemn’d by | 17 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘····˘/· |
| others for deeds done, | 5 | /˘··· |
| I will play a part no longer, why should I exile myself from my companions? | 20 | ······/˘···/··/··˘/˘ |
| O you shunn’d persons, I at least do not shun you, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| I come forthwith in your midst, I will be your poet, | 13 | ··//·······/˘ |
| I will be more to you than to any of the rest. | 13 | ········/˘··· |
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.