Laurel · William Wordsworth · The Poetical Works, Volume II

The Two Thieves; Or, the Last Stage of Avarice

William Wordsworth (1770–1850) · 1798–1807

anapaestic tetrameter · AABB · 48 lines · from The Poetical Works, Volume II

O now that the genius of Bewick were mine,And the skill which he learned on the banks of the Tyne,Then the Muses might deal with me just as they chose,For I'd take my last leave both of verse and of prose.

What feats would I work with my magical hand!Book-learning and books should be banished the land:And, for hunger and thirst and such troublesome calls,Every ale-house should then have a feast on its walls.

The traveller would hang his wet clothes on a chair;Let them smoke, let them burn, not a straw. Would he care!For the Prodigal Son, Joseph's Dream and his sheaves,Oh, what would they be to my tale of two Thieves?

The One, yet unbreeched, is not three birthdays old,His Grandsire that age more than thirty times told;There are ninety good seasons of fair and foul weatherBetween them, and both go a-pilfering together.

With chips is the carpenter strewing his floor?Is a cart-load of turf at an old woman's door?Old Daniel his hand to the treasure will slide!And his Grandson's as busy at work by his side.

Old Daniel begins; he stops short--and his eye,Through the lost look of dotage, is cunning and sly:'Tis a look which at this time is hardly his own,But tells a plain tale of the days that are flown.

He once had a heart which was moved by the wiresOf manifold pleasures and many desires:And what if he cherished his purse? 'Twas no moreThan treading a path trod by thousands before.

'Twas a path trod by thousands; but Daniel is oneWho went something farther than others have gone,And now with old Daniel you see how it fares;You see to what end he has brought his grey hairs.

The pair sally forth hand in hand: ere the sunHas peered o'er the beeches, their work is begun:And yet, into whatever sin they may fall,This child but half knows it, and that not at all.

They hunt through the streets with deliberate tread,And each, in his turn, becomes leader or led;And, wherever they carry their plots and their wiles,Every face in the village is dimpled with smiles.

Neither checked by the rich nor the needy they roam;For the grey-headed Sire has a daughter at home,Who will gladly repair all the damage that's done;And three, were it asked, would be rendered for one.

Old Man! whom so oft I with pity have eyed,I love thee, and love the sweet Boy at thy side:Long yet may'st thou live! for a teacher we seeThat lifts up the veil of our nature in thee.

Words in this poem

grandsire n.: Specifically, a grandfather; more generally, any ancestor. [OF. grantsire. See Grand, and Sire.]
strewing n.: The act of scattering or spreading.
dotage n.: Feebleness or imbecility of understanding or mind, particularly in old age; the childishness of old age; senility; as, a venerable man, now in his dotage. [From Dote, v. i.]
flown a.: Flushed, inflated.
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
wherever adv.: At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
sire n.: A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
gladly adv.: Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]

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

About this text

The Two Thieves; Or, the Last Stage of Avarice 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, The Two Thieves; Or, the Last Stage of Avarice, in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/the-two-thieves-or-the-last-stage-of-avarice.html, id L17289.

Form and metre

The Two Thieves; Or, the Last Stage of Avarice is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 11 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.3 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in anapaestic tetrameter.

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 AABB mine^A · tyne^A · chose^B · prose^B
2 AABB hand^A · land^A · calls^B · walls^B
3 AABB chair^A · care^A · sheaves^B · thieves^B
4 AABB old^A · told^A · weather^B · together^B
5 AABB floor^A · door^A · slide^B · side^B
6 AABB eye^A · sly^A · own^B · flown^B
7 AABB wires^A · desires^A · more^B · before^B
8 --AA one · gone · fares^A · hairs^A
9 AABB sun^A · begun^A · fall^B · all^B
10 AABB tread^A · led^A · wiles^B · smiles^B
11 AABB roam^A · home^A · done^B · one^B
12 AABB eyed^A · side^A · see^B · thee^B

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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
O now that the genius of Bewick were mine,	11	····/˘·····
And the skill which he learned on the banks of the Tyne,	12	············
Then the Muses might deal with me just as they chose,	12	··/˘········
For I'd take my last leave both of verse and of prose.	12	············
What feats would I work with my magical hand!	10	·······/˘·
Book-learning and books should be banished the land:	11	·/˘····/˘··
And, for hunger and thirst and such troublesome calls,	11	··/˘····/˘·
Every ale-house should then have a feast on its walls.	12	/˘··········
The traveller would hang his wet clothes on a chair;	11	·/˘········
Let them smoke, let them burn, not a straw. Would he care!	12	············
For the Prodigal Son, Joseph's Dream and his sheaves,	11	··/˘·/˘····
Oh, what would they be to my tale of two Thieves?	11	···········
The One, yet unbreeched, is not three birthdays old,	11	········/··
His Grandsire that age more than thirty times told;	11	·/˘····/˘··
There are ninety good seasons of fair and foul weather	13	··/˘·/˘····/˘
Between them, and both go a-pilfering together.	12	·······/˘˘/˘
With chips is the carpenter strewing his floor?	10	····/˘/˘··
Is a cart-load of turf at an old woman's door?	12	·········/˘·
Old Daniel his hand to the treasure will slide!	11	·/˘····/˘··
And his Grandson's as busy at work by his side.	12	··/··/˘·····
Old Daniel begins; he stops short--and his eye,	11	·/˘˘/······
Through the lost look of dotage, is cunning and sly:	12	·····/˘·/˘··
'Tis a look which at this time is hardly his own,	12	········/˘··
But tells a plain tale of the days that are flown.	11	···········
He once had a heart which was moved by the wires	11	··········/
Of manifold pleasures and many desires:	10	·/˘·/˘·/˘/
And what if he cherished his purse? 'Twas no more	11	····/˘·····
Than treading a path trod by thousands before.	11	·/˘····/˘··
'Twas a path trod by thousands; but Daniel is one	12	·····/˘·/˘··
Who went something farther than others have gone,	11	··/˘/˘·/˘··
And now with old Daniel you see how it fares;	11	····/˘·····
You see to what end he has brought his grey hairs.	11	···········
The pair sally forth hand in hand: ere the sun	11	··/˘·······
Has peered o'er the beeches, their work is begun:	11	····/˘···˘/
And yet, into whatever sin they may fall,	11	·····/˘····
This child but half knows it, and that not at all.	11	···········
They hunt through the streets with deliberate tread,	10	······˘/˘·
And each, in his turn, becomes leader or led;	11	·····˘//˘··
And, wherever they carry their plots and their wiles,	12	·˘/˘·/˘·····
Every face in the village is dimpled with smiles.	12	/˘···/˘·/˘··
Neither checked by the rich nor the needy they roam;	12	/˘······/˘··
For the grey-headed Sire has a daughter at home,	12	···/˘/··/˘··
Who will gladly repair all the damage that's done;	12	··/˘˘/··/˘··
And three, were it asked, would be rendered for one.	11	·······/˘··
Old Man! whom so oft I with pity have eyed,	11	·······/˘··
I love thee, and love the sweet Boy at thy side:	11	···········
Long yet may'st thou live! for a teacher we see	11	·······/˘··
That lifts up the veil of our nature in thee.	11	······//˘··

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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