Virtue
Now? Why--whirl-pools oforange and purple flamefeather twists of chromeon a green groundfunneling down uponthe steaming phallus-headof the mad sun himself--blackened crimson!Now?
Why--it is the smile of herthe smell of herthe vulgar inviting mouth of her!It is--Oh, nothing newnothing that lastsan eternity, nothing worthputting out to interest,nothing--but the fixing of an eyeconcretely upon emptiness!
Come! here are--cross-eyed men, a boywith a patch, men walkingin their shirts, men in hatsdark men, a pale manwith little black moustachesand a dirty white coat,fat men with pudgy faces,thin faces, crooked facesslit eyes, grey eyes, black eyesold men with dirty beards,men in vests withgold watch chains. Come!
Words in this poem
- inviting a.
- Alluring; tempting; as, an inviting amusement or prospect.
- concretely adv.
- In a concrete manner.
- pudgy a.
- Short and fat or sturdy; dumpy; podgy; as, a short, pudgy little man; a pudgy little hand. Thackeray.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Virtue 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, Virtue, in Al Que Quiere! (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/williams-al-que-quiere/virtue.html, id L01118.
Form and metre
Virtue is 34 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.2 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 59% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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--A- why · of · flame · chrome · ground · uponA · head · himself · crimsonA · now
- 2 ABBB-----A- whyA · herB · herB · herB · new · lasts · worth · interest · nothing · eyeA · emptiness
- 3 -----A-BBA--- are · boy · walking · hats · man · moustachesA · coat · facesB · facesB · eyesA · beards · with · come
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now? Why-- | 2 | ·· |
| whirl-pools of | 3 | ··· |
| orange and purple flame | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| feather twists of chrome | 5 | /˘··· |
| on a green ground | 4 | ···· |
| funneling down upon | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| the steaming phallus-head | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| of the mad sun himself-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| blackened crimson! | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Now? | 1 | · |
| Why-- | 1 | · |
| it is the smile of her | 6 | ······ |
| the smell of her | 4 | ···· |
| the vulgar inviting mouth of her! | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| It is--Oh, nothing new | 6 | ···/˘· |
| nothing that lasts | 4 | /˘·· |
| an eternity, nothing worth | 8 | ·˘/˘˘/˘· |
| putting out to interest, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| nothing-- | 2 | /˘ |
| but the fixing of an eye | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| concretely upon emptiness! | 8 | /·˘··/˘˘ |
| Come! here are-- | 3 | ··· |
| cross-eyed men, a boy | 5 | ····· |
| with a patch, men walking | 6 | ····/˘ |
| in their shirts, men in hats | 6 | ······ |
| dark men, a pale man | 5 | ····· |
| with little black moustaches | 7 | ·/˘·/·˘ |
| and a dirty white coat, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| fat men with pudgy faces, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| thin faces, crooked faces | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| slit eyes, grey eyes, black eyes | 6 | ······ |
| old men with dirty beards, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| men in vests with | 4 | ···· |
| gold watch chains. Come! | 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.