Drouth
Why do we pity those who weep? The painThat finds a ready outlet in the flowOf salt and bitter tears is blessed woe,And does not need our sympathies. The rainBut fits the shorn field for new yield of grain;While the red, brazen skies, the sun's fierce glow,The dry, hot winds that from the tropics blowDo parch and wither the unsheltered plain.The anguish that through long, remorseless yearsLooks out upon the world with no reliefOf sudden tempests or slow-dripping tears--The still, unuttered, silent, wordless griefThat evermore doth ache, and ache, and ache--This is the sorrow wherewith hearts do break.
Words in this poem
- parch v. t.
- To burn the surface of; to scorch; to roast over the fire, as dry grain; as, to parch the skin; to parch corn. [OE. perchen to pierce, hence used of a piercing heat or cold, OF. perchier, another form of percier, F. percer. See Pierce.]
- remorseless a.
- Being without remorse; having no pity; hence, destitute of sensibility; cruel; insensible to distress; merciless.
- wordless a.
- Not using words; not speaking; silent; speechless.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Drouth is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Drouth, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/drouth.html, id L22189.
Form and metre
Drouth is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDEE. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAABBACDCDEE painA · flowB · woeB · rainA · grainA · glowB · blowB · plainA · yearsC · reliefD · tearsC · griefD · acheE · breakE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Why do we pity those who weep? The pain | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That finds a ready outlet in the flow | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Of salt and bitter tears is blessed woe, | 10 | ···/˘···˘· |
| And does not need our sympathies. The rain | 10 | ····//˘˘·· |
| But fits the shorn field for new yield of grain; | 10 | ·········· |
| While the red, brazen skies, the sun's fierce glow, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The dry, hot winds that from the tropics blow | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Do parch and wither the unsheltered plain. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The anguish that through long, remorseless years | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Looks out upon the world with no relief | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Of sudden tempests or slow-dripping tears-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The still, unuttered, silent, wordless grief | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| That evermore doth ache, and ache, and ache-- | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| This is the sorrow wherewith hearts do break. | 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.