Washington's Monument February, 1885
Ah, not this marble, dead and cold:Far from its base and shaft expanding--the round zones circling,comprehending,Thou, Washington, art all the world’s, the continents’ entire--notyours alone, America,Europe’s as well, in every part, castle of lord or laborer’s cot,Or frozen North, or sultry South--the African’s--the Arab’s in his tent,Old Asia’s there with venerable smile, seated amid her ruins;(Greets the antique the hero new? ’tis but the same--the heirlegitimate, continued ever,The indomitable heart and arm--proofs of the never-broken line,Courage, alertness, patience, faith, the same--e’en in defeatdefeated not, the same:)Wherever sails a ship, or house is built on land, or day or night,Through teeming cities’ streets, indoors or out, factories or farms,Now, or to come, or past--where patriot wills existed or exist,Wherever Freedom, pois’d by Toleration, sway’d by Law,Stands or is rising thy true monument.
Words in this poem
- 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]
- alertness n.
- The quality of being alert or on the alert; briskness; nimbleness; activity.
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- teeming a.
- Prolific; productive.
- indoors adv.
- Within the house; -- usually separated, in doors.
- toleration n.
- The act of tolerating; the allowance of that which is not wholly approved. [L. toleratio: cf. OF. toleration.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Washington's Monument February, 1885 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, Washington's Monument February, 1885, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/washington-s-monument-february-1885.html, id L25592.
Form and metre
Washington's Monument February, 1885 is 18 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.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ---A-A------------ cold · circling · comprehending · notA · america · cotA · tent · ruins · heir · ever · line · defeat · same · night · farms · exist · law · monument
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ah, not this marble, dead and cold: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Far from its base and shaft expanding--the round zones circling, | 15 | ······˘/˘···/˘˘ |
| comprehending, | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Thou, Washington, art all the world’s, the continents’ entire--not | 16 | ·/˘˘·····/˘˘˘/˘· |
| yours alone, America, | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Europe’s as well, in every part, castle of lord or laborer’s cot, | 18 | /˘···/˘˘·/˘···/˘˘· |
| Or frozen North, or sultry South--the African’s--the Arab’s in his tent, | 18 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Old Asia’s there with venerable smile, seated amid her ruins; | 17 | ·/˘··/˘˘˘·/˘˘/·/˘ |
| (Greets the antique the hero new? ’tis but the same--the heir | 14 | ··˘/·/˘······· |
| legitimate, continued ever, | 9 | ˘/˘˘˘/˘/˘ |
| The indomitable heart and arm--proofs of the never-broken line, | 17 | ·˘/˘˘˘······/˘/˘· |
| Courage, alertness, patience, faith, the same--e’en in defeat | 14 | /˘˘/˘/˘·····˘/ |
| defeated not, the same:) | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Wherever sails a ship, or house is built on land, or day or night, | 16 | ˘/˘············· |
| Through teeming cities’ streets, indoors or out, factories or farms, | 15 | ·/˘/˘·/···/˘˘·· |
| Now, or to come, or past--where patriot wills existed or exist, | 17 | ·······/˘˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Wherever Freedom, pois’d by Toleration, sway’d by Law, | 14 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/˘··· |
| Stands or is rising thy true monument. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
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.