Lines on the Portrait of a Celebrated Publisher
A pleasant print to peddle outIn lands of rice and cotton;The model of that face in doughWould make the artist's fortune.For Fame to thee has come unsought,While others vainly woo her,In proof how mean a thing can makeA great man of its doer.
To whom shall men thyself compare,Since common models fail 'em,Save classic goose of ancient Rome,Or sacred ass of Balaam?The gabble of that wakeful gooseSaved Rome from sack of Brennus;The braying of the prophet's assBetrayed the angel's menace!
So when Guy Fawkes, in petticoats,And azure-tinted hose oil,Was twisting from thy love-lorn sheetsThe slow-match of explosion--An earthquake blast that would have tossedThe Union as a feather,Thy instinct saved a perilled landAnd perilled purse together.
Just think of Carolina's sageSent whirling like a Dervis,Of Quattlebum in middle airPerforming strange drill-service!Doomed like Assyria's lord of old,Who fell before the Jewess,Or sad Abimelech, to sigh,"Alas! a woman slew us!"
Thou saw'st beneath a fair disguiseThe danger darkly lurking,And maiden bodice dreaded moreThan warrior's steel-wrought jerkin.How keen to scent the hidden plot!How prompt wert thou to balk it,With patriot zeal and pedler thrift,For country and for pocket!
Thy likeness here is doubtless well,But higher honor's due it;On auction-block and negro-jailAdmiring eyes should view it.Or, hung aloft, it well might graceThe nation's senate-chamber--A greedy Northern bottle-flyPreserved in Slavery's amber!
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- braying a.
- Making a harsh noise; blaring.
- dervis n.
- A Turkish or Persian monk, especially one who professes extreme poverty and leads an austere life. [Per. derw, fr. OPer. derew to beg, ask alms: cf. F. derviche.]
- jewess n.
- A Hebrew woman.
- bodice n.
- A kind of under waist stiffened with whalebone, etc., worn esp. by women; a corset; stays. [This is properly the plural of body, Oe. bodise a pair of bodies, equiv. to a bodice. Cf. Corset, and see Body.]
- jerkin n.
- A jacket or short coat; a close waistcoat. [Dim. of D. jurk a frock.]
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- admiring a.
- Expressing admiration; as, an admiring glance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines on the Portrait of a Celebrated Publisher is in the public domain. This text is taken from Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform, Complete Volume III of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Project Gutenberg ebook #9580; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Greenleaf Whittier, Lines on the Portrait of a Celebrated Publisher, in Anti-Slavery Poems and Songs of Labor and Reform (1865), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9580, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whittier-anti-slavery/lines-on-the-portrait-of-a-celebrated-publisher.html, id L24885.
Form and metre
Lines on the Portrait of a Celebrated Publisher is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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.
- 2 ----A-AA compare · em · rome · balaam · gooseA · brennus · assA · menaceA
- 3 -----A-A petticoats · oil · sheets · explosion · tossed · featherA · land · togetherA
- 4 -A-A---A sage · dervisA · air · serviceA · old · jewess · sigh · usA
- 5 ----AA-A disguise · lurking · more · jerkin · plotA · itA · thrift · pocketA
- 6 -A-A---- well · itA · jail · itA · grace · chamber · fly · amber
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A pleasant print to peddle out | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In lands of rice and cotton; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The model of that face in dough | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Would make the artist's fortune. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| For Fame to thee has come unsought, | 8 | ········ |
| While others vainly woo her, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| In proof how mean a thing can make | 8 | ········ |
| A great man of its doer. | 6 | ······ |
| To whom shall men thyself compare, | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Since common models fail 'em, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Save classic goose of ancient Rome, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or sacred ass of Balaam? | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| The gabble of that wakeful goose | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Saved Rome from sack of Brennus; | 8 | ·˘······ |
| The braying of the prophet's ass | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Betrayed the angel's menace! | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| So when Guy Fawkes, in petticoats, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And azure-tinted hose oil, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Was twisting from thy love-lorn sheets | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The slow-match of explosion-- | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| An earthquake blast that would have tossed | 8 | ·/······ |
| The Union as a feather, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Thy instinct saved a perilled land | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And perilled purse together. | 8 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Just think of Carolina's sage | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Sent whirling like a Dervis, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Of Quattlebum in middle air | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Performing strange drill-service! | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| Doomed like Assyria's lord of old, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Who fell before the Jewess, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or sad Abimelech, to sigh, | 8 | ········ |
| "Alas! a woman slew us!" | 7 | ˘/·/˘·· |
| Thou saw'st beneath a fair disguise | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The danger darkly lurking, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| And maiden bodice dreaded more | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Than warrior's steel-wrought jerkin. | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| How keen to scent the hidden plot! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| How prompt wert thou to balk it, | 7 | ······· |
| With patriot zeal and pedler thrift, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For country and for pocket! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Thy likeness here is doubtless well, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But higher honor's due it; | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| On auction-block and negro-jail | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Admiring eyes should view it. | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| Or, hung aloft, it well might grace | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The nation's senate-chamber-- | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| A greedy Northern bottle-fly | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Preserved in Slavery's amber! | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘/˘ |
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.