K. McB
You exquisite chunk of mudKathleen--just likeany other chunk of mud!--especially in April!Curl up round their shoeswhen they try to step on you,spoil the polish!I shall laugh till I am sickat their amazement.Do they expect the ground to bealways solid?Give them the slip then;let them sit in you;soil their pants;teach them a dignitythat is dignity, the dignityof mud!
Lie basking inthe sun then--fast asleep!Even become dust on occasion.
Words in this poem
- chunk n.
- A short, thick piece of anything. [Cf. Chump.]
- 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,]
- amazement n.
- The condition of being amazed; bewilderment ; overwhelming wonder, as from surprise, sudden fear, horror, or admiration.
- expect v. t.
- To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
K. McB 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, K. McB, in Al Que Quiere! (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-al-que-quiere/k-mcb.html, id L01136.
Form and metre
K. McB is 20 lines in 2 stanzas. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.7 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 40% 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--B------B-CCA mudA · like · mudA · april · shoes · youB · polish · sick · amazement · be · solid · then · youB · pants · dignityC · dignityC · mudA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| You exquisite chunk of mud | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Kathleen--just like | 4 | ˘/·· |
| any other chunk of mud! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| --especially in April! | 6 | ˘/˘·/˘ |
| Curl up round their shoes | 5 | ····· |
| when they try to step on you, | 7 | ······· |
| spoil the polish! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| I shall laugh till I am sick | 7 | ······· |
| at their amazement. | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Do they expect the ground to be | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| always solid? | 4 | /·/˘ |
| Give them the slip then; | 5 | ····· |
| let them sit in you; | 5 | ····· |
| soil their pants; | 3 | ··· |
| teach them a dignity | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| that is dignity, the dignity | 9 | ··/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| of mud! | 2 | ·· |
| Lie basking in | 4 | ·/˘· |
| the sun then--fast asleep! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Even become dust on occasion. | 9 | /˘˘/··˘/˘ |
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.