Shakspere-Bacon’s Cipher
I doubt it not--then more, far more;In each old song bequeath’d--in every noble page or text,(Different--something unreck’d before--some unsuspected author,)In every object, mountain, tree, and star--in every birth and life,As part of each--evolv’d from each--meaning, behind the ostent,A mystic cipher waits infolded.
Words in this poem
- bequeath v. t.
- To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [OE. biquethen, AS. becwe to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cwe to say, speak. See Quoth.]
- ostent n.
- Appearance; air; mien. [L. ostentus, ostentum, fr. ostendere (p. p. ostensus and ostentus) to show. See Ostensible.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Shakspere-Bacon’s Cipher 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, Shakspere-Bacon’s Cipher, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/shakspere-bacon-s-cipher.html, id L04128.
Form and metre
Shakspere-Bacon’s Cipher is 6 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 77% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic octameter.
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. Read against iambic octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I doubt it not--then more, far more; | 8 | ········ |
| In each old song bequeath’d--in every noble page or text, | 15 | ····˘/·/˘˘/˘··· |
| (Different--something unreck’d before--some unsuspected author,) | 16 | /˘˘/˘······˘/˘/˘ |
| In every object, mountain, tree, and star--in every birth and life, | 18 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘····/˘˘··· |
| As part of each--evolv’d from each--meaning, behind the ostent, | 15 | ····˘/··/˘···/˘ |
| A mystic cipher waits infolded. | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
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.