Savantism
Thither as I look I see each result and glory retracing itself andnestling close, always obligated,Thither hours, months, years--thither trades, compacts,establishments, even the most minute,Thither every-day life, speech, utensils, politics, persons, estates;Thither we also, I with my leaves and songs, trustful, admirant,As a father to his father going takes his children along with him.
Words in this poem
- nestling n.
- A young bird which has not abandoned the nest. Piers Plowman.
- trustful a.
- Full of trust; trusting.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Savantism 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, Savantism, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/savantism.html, id L03838.
Form and metre
Savantism is 7 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The lines average 14.4 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thither as I look I see each result and glory retracing itself and | 19 | /˘······˘/·/˘˘/˘˘/· |
| nestling close, always obligated, | 9 | /˘·/·/˘·˘ |
| Thither hours, months, years--thither trades, compacts, | 11 | /˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| establishments, even the most minute, | 10 | ˘/˘˘/˘··/˘ |
| Thither every-day life, speech, utensils, politics, persons, estates; | 18 | /˘/˘˘···˘/˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Thither we also, I with my leaves and songs, trustful, admirant, | 16 | /˘·/˘······/˘··· |
| As a father to his father going takes his children along with him. | 18 | ··/˘··/˘/˘··/˘˘/·· |
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.