Ballet
Are you not weary,great gold crossshining in the wind--are you not wearyof seeing the starsturning over youand the sungoing to his restand you frozen witha great liethat leaves yourigid as a knighton a marble coffin?
--and you,higher, still,robin,untwisting a songfrom the baretop-twigs,are you notweary of labor,even the labor ofa song?
First it will bea quiet paceto ease our stiffnessbut as the west yellowsyou will be ready!
Here in the middleof the roadwaywe will flingourselves roundwith dust liliestill we are bound intheir twining stems!We will teartheir flowerswith arms flashing!
And whenthe astonished starspush asidetheir curtainsthey will see usfall exhausted wherewheels andthe pounding feetof horseswill crush forthour laughter.
Words in this poem
- yellows n.
- A disease of the bile in horses, cattle, and sheep, causing yellowness of the eyes; jaundice.
- roadway n.
- A road; especially, the part traveled by carriages.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ballet is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Book of Poems, Al Que Quiere!, Project Gutenberg ebook #51997; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Carlos Williams, Ballet, in Al Que Quiere! (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-al-que-quiere/ballet.html, id L01123.
Form and metre
Ballet is 49 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is trochaic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 3.9 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 74% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A--A-B----B-- wearyA · cross · wind · wearyA · stars · youB · sun · rest · with · lie · youB · knight · coffin
- 2 ---A-----A you · still · robin · songA · bare · twigs · not · labor · of · songA
- 3 -AA-- be · paceA · stiffnessA · yellows · ready
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.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Are you not weary, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| great gold cross | 3 | ··· |
| shining in the wind-- | 5 | /˘··· |
| are you not weary | 5 | ···/˘ |
| of seeing the stars | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| turning over you | 5 | /˘··· |
| and the sun | 3 | ··· |
| going to his rest | 5 | /˘··· |
| and you frozen with | 5 | ··/˘· |
| a great lie | 3 | ··· |
| that leaves you | 3 | ··· |
| rigid as a knight | 5 | /˘··· |
| on a marble coffin? | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| --and you, | 2 | ·· |
| higher, still, | 3 | /˘· |
| robin, | 2 | /˘ |
| untwisting a song | 5 | ····· |
| from the bare | 3 | ··· |
| top-twigs, | 2 | ·· |
| are you not | 3 | ··· |
| weary of labor, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| even the labor of | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| a song? | 2 | ·· |
| First it will be | 4 | ···· |
| a quiet pace | 4 | ·/˘· |
| to ease our stiffness | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| but as the west yellows | 6 | ····/˘ |
| you will be ready! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Here in the middle | 5 | ···/˘ |
| of the roadway | 4 | ··/· |
| we will fling | 3 | ··· |
| ourselves round | 4 | ˘˘/· |
| with dust lilies | 4 | ··/˘ |
| till we are bound in | 5 | ····· |
| their twining stems! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We will tear | 3 | ··· |
| their flowers | 3 | ·/˘ |
| with arms flashing! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| And when | 2 | ·· |
| the astonished stars | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| push aside | 3 | ·˘/ |
| their curtains | 3 | ·/˘ |
| they will see us | 4 | ···· |
| fall exhausted where | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
| wheels and | 2 | ·· |
| the pounding feet | 4 | ·/˘· |
| of horses | 3 | ·/˘ |
| will crush forth | 3 | ··· |
| our laughter. | 4 | /˘/˘ |
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.