Gulls
My townspeople, beyond in the great world,are many with whom it were far moreprofitable for me to live than here with you.These whirr about me calling, calling!and for my own part I answer them, loud as I can,but they, being free, pass!I remain! Therefore, listen!For you will not soon have another singer.
And the next thing I say is this:I saw an eagle once circling against the cloudsover one of our principal churches--Easter, it was--a beautiful day!--:three gulls came from above the riverand crossed slowly seaward!Oh, I know you have your own hymns, I have heard them--and because I knew they invoked some great protectorI could not be angry with you, no matterhow much they outraged true music--
Words in this poem
- townspeople n.
- The inhabitants of a town or city, especially in distinction from country people; townsfolk.
- whirr v. i.
- To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
- seaward a.
- Directed or situated toward the sea. Donne.
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gulls 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, Gulls, in Al Que Quiere! (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-al-que-quiere/gulls.html, id L01094.
Form and metre
Gulls is 18 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 82% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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- world · more · you · calling · canA · pass · listenA · singer
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My townspeople, beyond in the great world, | 10 | ·/·˘······ |
| are many with whom it were far more | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| profitable for me to live than here with you. | 12 | /˘˘˘········ |
| These whirr about me calling, calling! | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| and for my own part I answer them, loud as I can, | 13 | ······/˘····· |
| but they, being free, pass! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| I remain! Therefore, listen! | 7 | ·˘/··/˘ |
| For you will not soon have another singer. | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| And the next thing I say is this: | 8 | ········ |
| I saw an eagle once circling against the clouds | 13 | ···/˘·/˘˘···· |
| over one of our principal churches-- | 11 | ····/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Easter, it was--a beautiful day!--: | 9 | /˘···/˘˘· |
| three gulls came from above the river | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| and crossed slowly seaward! | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Oh, I know you have your own hymns, I have heard them-- | 12 | ············ |
| and because I knew they invoked some great protector | 13 | ······˘/··˘/˘ |
| I could not be angry with you, no matter | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| how much they outraged true music-- | 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.