Keller Gegen Dom
Witness, would you--one more young manin the evening of his lovehurrying to confession:steps down a guttercrosses a streetgoes in at a doorwayopens for you--like some great flower--a room filled with lamplight;or whirls himselfobediently tothe curl of a hillsome wind-dancing afternoon;lies for you inthe futile darkness ofa wall, sets stars dancingto the crack of a leaf--
and--leaning his head away--snuffs (secretly)the bitter powder fromhis thumb’s hollow,takes your blessing andgoes home to bed?
Witness insteadwhether you like it or nota dark vinegar smelling placefrom which tricklesthe chuckle ofbeginning laughter
It strikes midnight.
Words in this poem
- doorway n.
- The passage of a door; entrance way into a house or a room.
- lamplight n.
- Light from a lamp.
- obediently adv.
- In an obedient manner; with obedience.
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- futile a.
- Talkative; loquacious; tattling. [L. futilis that easily pours out, that easily lets loose, vain, worthless, from the root of fundere to pour out: cf. F. futile. See Fuse, v. t.]
- chuckle v. t.
- To call, as a hen her chickens; to cluck. [From lst Chuck.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Keller Gegen Dom 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, Keller Gegen Dom, in Al Que Quiere! (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-al-que-quiere/keller-gegen-dom.html, id L01121.
Form and metre
Keller Gegen Dom is 31 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.3 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 63% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABCB---A---A-DDC-- youA · manB · loveC · confessionB · gutter · street · doorway · youA · flower · lamplight · himself · toA · hill · afternoonD · inD · ofC · dancing · leaf
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Witness, would you-- | 4 | /˘·· |
| one more young man | 4 | ···· |
| in the evening of his love | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| hurrying to confession: | 7 | /˘˘·˘/˘ |
| steps down a gutter | 5 | ···/˘ |
| crosses a street | 4 | /˘·· |
| goes in at a doorway | 6 | ····/· |
| opens for you-- | 4 | /˘·· |
| like some great flower-- | 5 | ···/˘ |
| a room filled with lamplight; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| or whirls himself | 4 | ··˘/ |
| obediently to | 6 | ˘/˘˘˘· |
| the curl of a hill | 5 | ····· |
| some wind-dancing afternoon; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| lies for you in | 4 | ···· |
| the futile darkness of | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| a wall, sets stars dancing | 6 | ····/˘ |
| to the crack of a leaf-- | 6 | ······ |
| and--leaning his head away-- | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| snuffs (secretly) | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| the bitter powder from | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| his thumb’s hollow, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| takes your blessing and | 5 | ··/˘· |
| goes home to bed? | 4 | ···· |
| Witness instead | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| whether you like it or not | 7 | ······· |
| a dark vinegar smelling place | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| from which trickles | 4 | ··/˘ |
| the chuckle of | 4 | ·/˘· |
| beginning laughter | 5 | ˘/˘/˘ |
| It strikes midnight. | 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.