Thought
Of obedience, faith, adhesiveness;As I stand aloof and look there is to me something profoundlyaffecting in large masses of men following the lead of those whodo not believe in men.
Words in this poem
- adhesiveness n.
- The quality of sticking or adhering; stickiness; tenacity of union.
- profoundly adv.
- In a profound manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thought 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, Thought, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/thought-4.html, id L25581.
Form and metre
Thought is 4 lines in a single stanza.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Of obedience, faith, adhesiveness; | 10 | ·˘/˘˘·˘/˘˘ |
| As I stand aloof and look there is to me something profoundly | 16 | ···˘/······/˘˘/˘ |
| affecting in large masses of men following the lead of those who | 17 | ˘/˘··/˘··/˘˘····· |
| do not believe in men. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
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.