Pastoral
The little sparrowshop ingenuouslyabout the pavementquarrelingwith sharp voicesover those thingsthat interest them.But we who are wisershut ourselves inon either handand no one knowswhether we think goodor evil.Meanwhile,the old man who goes aboutgathering dog-limewalks in the gutterwithout looking upand his treadis more majestic thanthat of the Episcopal ministerapproaching the pulpitof a Sunday.These thingsastonish me beyond words.
Words in this poem
- ingenuously adv.
- In an ingenuous manner; openly; fairly; candidly; artlessly.
- quarreling a.
- Engaged in a quarrel; apt or disposed to quarrel; as, quarreling factions; a quarreling mood.
- meanwhile n.
- The intervening time; as, in the meantime (or mean time).
- astonish v. t.
- To stun; to render senseless, as by a blow. [OE. astonien, astunian, astonen, OF. estoner, F. étonner, fr. L. ex out + tonare to thunder, but perhaps influenced by E. stun. See Thunder, Astound, Astony.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pastoral 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, Pastoral, in Al Que Quiere! (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-al-que-quiere/pastoral-2.html, id L01100.
Form and metre
Pastoral is 25 lines in a single stanza. 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 4.8 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 80% 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 -----A------BB---------A- sparrows · ingenuously · pavement · quarreling · voices · thingsA · them · wiser · in · hand · knows · good · evilB · meanwhileB · about · lime · gutter · up · tread · than · minister · pulpit · sunday · thingsA · words
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The little sparrows | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| hop ingenuously | 6 | ·˘/˘˘˘ |
| about the pavement | 5 | ···/˘ |
| quarreling | 3 | /˘˘ |
| with sharp voices | 4 | ··/˘ |
| over those things | 4 | ···· |
| that interest them. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| But we who are wiser | 6 | ····/˘ |
| shut ourselves in | 5 | ·˘˘/· |
| on either hand | 4 | ·/˘· |
| and no one knows | 4 | ···· |
| whether we think good | 5 | ····· |
| or evil. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Meanwhile, | 2 | /· |
| the old man who goes about | 7 | ······· |
| gathering dog-lime | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| walks in the gutter | 5 | ···/˘ |
| without looking up | 5 | ··/˘· |
| and his tread | 3 | ··· |
| is more majestic than | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| that of the Episcopal minister | 10 | ···˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| approaching the pulpit | 6 | ˘/˘·/˘ |
| of a Sunday. | 4 | ··/· |
| These things | 2 | ·· |
| astonish me beyond words. | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
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.