The Calming Thought of All
That coursing on, whate’er men’s speculations,Amid the changing schools, theologies, philosophies,Amid the bawling presentations new and old,The round earth’s silent vital laws, facts, modes continue.
Words in this poem
- coursing n.
- The pursuit or running game with dogs that follow by sight instead of by scent.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Calming Thought of All 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, The Calming Thought of All, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/the-calming-thought-of-all.html, id L04101.
Form and metre
The Calming Thought of All is 4 lines in a single stanza. The lines average 12.8 syllables. 3 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 |
|---|---|---|
| That coursing on, whate’er men’s speculations, | 12 | ·/˘·˘˘/··˘/˘ |
| Amid the changing schools, theologies, philosophies, | 14 | ˘/·/˘·˘/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| Amid the bawling presentations new and old, | 12 | ˘/·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| The round earth’s silent vital laws, facts, modes continue. | 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.