Miscellaneous Poems

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) · 1883

trochaic dimeter · 40 lines · from Poems of Passion

The Lost GardenArt and HeartMockeryAs by FireIf I Should DieMésallianceResponseDroughtThe CreedProgressMy FriendCreationRed CarnationsLife is Too ShortA SculptorBeyondThe Saddest HourShow Me the WayMy HeritageResolveAt EleusisCourageSolitudeThe Year Outgrows the SpringThe Beautiful Land of NodThe TigerOnly a Simple RhymeI Will Be Worthy of ItSonnetRegretLet Me Lean HardPenaltySunsetThe Wheel of the BreastA MeetingEarnestnessA PictureTwin-BornFloodsA Fable

Words in this poem

sculptor n.
One who sculptures; one whose occupation is to carve statues, or works of sculpture. [L. sculptor, fr. sculpere, sculptum, to carve; cf. scalpere to cut, carve, scratch, and Gr. sculpteur.]
heritage a.
That which is inherited, or passes from heir to heir; inheritance. [OE. heritage, eritage, OF. heritage, eritage, F. héritage, fr. hériter to inherit, LL. heriditare. See Hereditable.]
sonnet n.
A short poem, -- usually amatory. [F., fr. It. sonetto, fr. suono a sound, a song, fr. L. sonus a sound. See Sound noise.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Miscellaneous Poems 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, Miscellaneous Poems, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/miscellaneous-poems.html, id L22137.

Form and metre

Miscellaneous Poems is 40 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).

See other poems in trochaic dimeter.

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. 1 ---------------------------AAA--A------- garden · heart · mockery · fire · die · mésalliance · response · drought · creed · progress · friend · creation · carnations · short · sculptor · beyond · hour · way · heritage · resolve · eleusis · courage · solitude · spring · nod · tiger · rhyme · itA · sonnetA · regretA · hard · penalty · sunsetA · breast · meeting · earnestness · picture · born · floods · fable
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 trochaic dimeter. How this is done.

LineSyl.Stress
The Lost Garden4··/˘
Art and Heart3···
Mockery3/˘˘
As by Fire4··/˘
If I Should Die4····
Mésalliance3···
Response2˘/
Drought1·
The Creed2··
Progress2/·
My Friend2··
Creation3˘/˘
Red Carnations4·˘/˘
Life is Too Short4····
A Sculptor3·/˘
Beyond2··
The Saddest Hour5·/˘/˘
Show Me the Way4····
My Heritage4·/˘˘
Resolve2˘/
At Eleusis4····
Courage2/˘
Solitude3/˘·
The Year Outgrows the Spring6···/··
The Beautiful Land of Nod7·/˘˘···
The Tiger3·/˘
Only a Simple Rhyme6/˘·/˘·
I Will Be Worthy of It7···/˘··
Sonnet2/˘
Regret2˘/
Let Me Lean Hard4····
Penalty3/˘˘
Sunset2/·
The Wheel of the Breast5·····
A Meeting3·/˘
Earnestness3/˘˘
A Picture3·/˘
Twin-Born2··
Floods1·
A Fable3·/˘

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.

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