To a Sexton
Let thy wheel-barrow alone--Wherefore, Sexton, piling stillIn thy bone-house bone on bone?'Tis already like a hillIn a field of battle made,Where three thousand skulls are laid;These died in peace each with the other,--Father, sister, friend, and brother.
Mark the spot to which I point!From this platform, eight feet square,Take not even a finger-joint:Andrew's whole fire-side is there.Here, alone, before thine eyes,Simon's sickly daughter lies,From weakness now, and pain defended,Whom he twenty winters tended.
Look but at the gardener's pride--How he glories, when he seesRoses, lilies, side by side,Violets in families!By the heart of Man, his tears,By his hopes and by his fears,Thou, too heedless, art the WardenOf a far superior garden.
Thus then, each to other dear,Let them all in quiet lie,Andrew there, and Susan here,Neighbours in mortality.And, should I live through sun and rainSeven widowed years without my Jane,O Sexton, do not then remove her,Let one grave hold the Loved and Lover!
Words in this poem
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
- jane n.
- A coin of Genoa; any small coin. [LL. Janua Genoa; L. Genua, also OE. Jean.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Sexton 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, To a Sexton, in The Brothers, and Other Poems (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/to-a-sexton.html, id L17306.
Form and metre
To a Sexton is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABABCCDD aloneA · stillB · boneA · hillB · madeC · laidC · otherD · brotherD
- 2 ABABCCDD pointA · squareB · jointA · thereB · eyesC · liesC · defendedD · tendedD
- 3 ABABCC-- prideA · seesB · sideA · familiesB · tearsC · fearsC · warden · garden
- 4 A-A-BB-- dearA · lie · hereA · mortality · rainB · janeB · her · lover
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Let thy wheel-barrow alone-- | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Wherefore, Sexton, piling still | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| In thy bone-house bone on bone? | 7 | ······· |
| 'Tis already like a hill | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| In a field of battle made, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where three thousand skulls are laid; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| These died in peace each with the other,-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Father, sister, friend, and brother. | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| Mark the spot to which I point! | 7 | ······· |
| From this platform, eight feet square, | 7 | ··/···· |
| Take not even a finger-joint: | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Andrew's whole fire-side is there. | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| Here, alone, before thine eyes, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Simon's sickly daughter lies, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| From weakness now, and pain defended, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Whom he twenty winters tended. | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Look but at the gardener's pride-- | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| How he glories, when he sees | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Roses, lilies, side by side, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Violets in families! | 7 | /˘˘·/˘˘ |
| By the heart of Man, his tears, | 7 | ······· |
| By his hopes and by his fears, | 7 | ······· |
| Thou, too heedless, art the Warden | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Of a far superior garden. | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Thus then, each to other dear, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Let them all in quiet lie, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Andrew there, and Susan here, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Neighbours in mortality. | 7 | /˘·˘/˘˘ |
| And, should I live through sun and rain | 8 | ········ |
| Seven widowed years without my Jane, | 8 | //˘····· |
| O Sexton, do not then remove her, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/· |
| Let one grave hold the Loved and Lover! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
On this poem
Written in Germany, 1799.
Notes from the edition 1
William Knight's notes to The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume 2 (1896; Project Gutenberg #12145): Wordsworth's own Isabella Fenwick notes and Knight's headnotes on composition and publication, plus his lettered footnotes (restarting at A for every poem).
- Stanza 3, line 7 1845. Thou, old Grey-beard! ... 1800.
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.