Paterson—The Strike
At the first peep of dawn she roused me!I rose trembling at the change which the night saw!For there, wretchedly brooding in a cornerFrom which her old eyes glittered fiercely--“Go!” she said, and I hurried shiveringOut into the deserted streets of Paterson.
That night she came again, hoveringIn rags within the filmy ceiling--“Great Queen, bless me with thy tatters!”“You are blest, go on!”“Hot for savagery,Sucking the air! I went into the city,Out again, baffled onto the mountain!Back into the city!NowhereThe subtle! Everywhere the electric!”
“A short bread-line before a hitherto empty tea shop:No questions--all stood patiently,Dominated by one idea: somethingThat carried them as they are always wanting to be carried,‘But what is it,’ I asked those nearest me,‘This thing heretofore unobtainableThat they seem so clever to have put on now!’
“Why since I have failed them can it be anything but their own brood?Can it be anything but brutality?On that at least they’re united! That at leastIs their bean soup, their calm bread and a few luxuries!
“But in me, more sensitive, marvelous old queenIt sank deep into the blood, that I rose uponThe tense air enjoying the dusty fight!Heavy drink were the low, sloping foreheadsThe flat skulls with the unkempt black or blond hair,The ugly legs of the young girls, pistonsToo powerful for delicacy!The women’s wrists, the men’s arms, redUsed to heat and cold, to toss quartered beevesAnd barrels, and milk-cans, and crates of fruit!
“Faces all knotted up like burls on oaks,Grasping, fox-snouted, thick-lipped,Sagging breasts and protruding stomachs,Rasping voices, filthy habits with the hands.“Nowhere you! Everywhere the electric!
“Ugly, venemous, gigantic!Tossing me as a great father his helplessInfant till it shriek with ecstasyAnd its eyes roll and its tongue hangs out!--
“I am at peace again, old queen, I listen clearer now.”
Words in this poem
- wretchedly adv.
- In a wretched manner; miserably; despicable.
- filmy a.
- Composed of film or films.
- savagery n.
- The state of being savage; savageness; savagism. [F. sauvagerie.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- onto prep.
- On the top of; upon; on. See On to, under On, prep. [On + to. Cf. Into.]
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- patiently adv.
- In a patient manner.
- brutality n.
- The quality of being brutal; inhumanity; savageness; pitilessness. [Cf. F. brutalité.]
- unkempt a.
- Not combed; disheveled; as, an urchin with unkempt hair. [Pref. un- not + kempt, p. p. of kemb.]
- quartered a.
- Divided into four equal parts or quarters; separated into four parts or regions.
- beeves n.
- ; plural of Beef, the animal.
- sagging n.
- A bending or sinking between the ends of a thing, in consequence of its own, or an imposed, weight; an arching downward in the middle, as of a ship after straining. Cf. Hogging.
- clearer n.
- One who, or that which, clears.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Paterson—The Strike 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, Paterson—The Strike, in Al Que Quiere! (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-al-que-quiere/paterson-the-strike.html, id L01141.
Form and metre
Paterson—The Strike is 47 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 24 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic pentameter.
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.
- 2 ---A-BAB-- hovering · ceiling · tatters · onA · savagery · cityB · mountainA · cityB · nowhere · electric
- 6 A-A-- oaksA · lipped · stomachsA · hands · electric
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| At the first peep of dawn she roused me! | 9 | ········· |
| I rose trembling at the change which the night saw! | 12 | ··/˘˘······· |
| For there, wretchedly brooding in a corner | 11 | ··/˘˘/˘··/˘ |
| From which her old eyes glittered fiercely-- | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| “Go!” she said, and I hurried shivering | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Out into the deserted streets of Paterson. | 12 | ····˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| That night she came again, hovering | 9 | ····˘//˘˘ |
| In rags within the filmy ceiling-- | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| “Great Queen, bless me with thy tatters!” | 8 | ······/˘ |
| “You are blest, go on!” | 5 | ····· |
| “Hot for savagery, | 6 | ··/˘·˘ |
| Sucking the air! I went into the city, | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| Out again, baffled onto the mountain! | 10 | ·˘//˘/˘·/˘ |
| Back into the city! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Nowhere | 2 | /· |
| The subtle! Everywhere the electric!” | 10 | ·/˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| “A short bread-line before a hitherto empty tea shop: | 14 | ·······/·//˘·· |
| No questions--all stood patiently, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Dominated by one idea: something | 11 | /˘·˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| That carried them as they are always wanting to be carried, | 15 | ·/˘····/·/˘··/˘ |
| ‘But what is it,’ I asked those nearest me, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| ‘This thing heretofore unobtainable | 10 | ···˘/·˘/˘˘ |
| That they seem so clever to have put on now!’ | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| “Why since I have failed them can it be anything but their own brood? | 16 | ·········/˘····· |
| Can it be anything but brutality? | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘˘ |
| On that at least they’re united! That at least | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| Is their bean soup, their calm bread and a few luxuries! | 13 | ··········/˘˘ |
| “But in me, more sensitive, marvelous old queen | 12 | ····/˘˘/˘˘·· |
| It sank deep into the blood, that I rose upon | 12 | ············ |
| The tense air enjoying the dusty fight! | 10 | ···˘/˘·/˘· |
| Heavy drink were the low, sloping foreheads | 10 | /˘····/˘/· |
| The flat skulls with the unkempt black or blond hair, | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| The ugly legs of the young girls, pistons | 10 | ·/˘·····/˘ |
| Too powerful for delicacy! | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘˘ |
| The women’s wrists, the men’s arms, red | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Used to heat and cold, to toss quartered beeves | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And barrels, and milk-cans, and crates of fruit! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| “Faces all knotted up like burls on oaks, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Grasping, fox-snouted, thick-lipped, | 7 | /˘·/˘·· |
| Sagging breasts and protruding stomachs, | 9 | /˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| Rasping voices, filthy habits with the hands. | 11 | /˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| “Nowhere you! Everywhere the electric! | 10 | /··/˘··˘/˘ |
| “Ugly, venemous, gigantic! | 8 | /˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Tossing me as a great father his helpless | 11 | /˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Infant till it shriek with ecstasy | 9 | /˘····/˘˘ |
| And its eyes roll and its tongue hangs out!-- | 9 | ········· |
| “I am at peace again, old queen, I listen clearer now.” | 14 | ····˘/···/˘/˘· |
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