Transpositions
Let the reformers descend from the stands where they are foreverbawling--let an idiot or insane person appear on each of the stands;Let judges and criminals be transposed--let the prison-keepers beput in prison--let those that were prisoners take the keys;Let them that distrust birth and death lead the rest.
Words in this poem
- idiot n.
- A man in private station, as distinguished from one holding a public office. [F. idiot, L. idiota an uneducated, ignorant, ill- informed person, Gr. Idiom.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Transpositions 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, Transpositions, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/transpositions.html, id L04020.
Form and metre
Transpositions is 5 lines in a single stanza. The lines average 15.4 syllables. 1 line ends 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Let the reformers descend from the stands where they are forever | 16 | ··˘/˘˘/······˘/˘ |
| bawling--let an idiot or insane person appear on each of the stands; | 19 | /˘··/˘˘·˘//˘˘/····· |
| Let judges and criminals be transposed--let the prison-keepers be | 17 | ·/˘·/˘˘·˘/··/˘/˘· |
| put in prison--let those that were prisoners take the keys; | 14 | ··/˘····/˘˘··· |
| Let them that distrust birth and death lead the rest. | 11 | ···˘/······ |
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.