And MS. 1802

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) · 1798–1807

iambic pentameter · 7 lines · from The Brothers, and Other Poems

And said, that wheresoe'er they might be spiedHe gather'd Leeches, stirring at his feet

And said, that, gathering Leeches, far and wideHe travelled; stirring thus about his feet

Once he could meet with them on every side;But fewer they became from day to day,

Which he delivered with demeanour kind,

Words in this poem

demeanour n.
Management; treatment; conduct. [For demeanure, fr. demean. See Demean, v. t.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

And MS. 1802 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; 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 Wordsworth, And MS. 1802, in The Brothers, and Other Poems (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/and-ms-1802.html, id L25916.

Form and metre

And MS. 1802 is 7 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).

See other poems in iambic 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.

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 pentameter. How this is done.

LineSyl.Stress
And said, that wheresoe'er they might be spied10··········
He gather'd Leeches, stirring at his feet10·/˘/˘/˘···
And said, that, gathering Leeches, far and wide10···/˘/˘···
He travelled; stirring thus about his feet10·/˘/˘·····
Once he could meet with them on every side;10·······/˘·
But fewer they became from day to day,10·/˘·˘/····
Which he delivered with demeanour kind,10··˘/˘·˘/˘·

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.

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