A Coat
I made my song a coatCovered with embroideriesOut of old mythologiesFrom heel to throat;But the fools caught it,Wore it in the world's eyeAs though they'd wrought it.Song, let them take itFor there's more enterpriseIn walking naked.
While I, from that reed-throated whispererWho comes at need, although not now as onceA clear articulation in the airBut inwardly, surmise companionsBeyond the fling of the dull ass's hoof,--Ben Jonson's phrase--and find when June is comeAt Kyle-na-no under that ancient roofA sterner conscience and a friendlier home,I can forgive even that wrong of wrongs,Those undreamt accidents that have made me--Seeing that Fame has perished this long whileBeing but a part of ancient ceremony--Notorious, till all my priceless thingsAre but a post the passing dogs defile.
Words in this poem
- whisperer n.
- One who whispers.
- sterner n.
- A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- undreamt a.
- Not dreamed, or dreamed of; not thof.
- priceless a.
- Too valuable to admit of being appraised; of inestimable worth; invaluable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Coat is in the public domain. This text is taken from Responsibilities, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #36865; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, A Coat, in Responsibilities (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36865, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-responsibilities/a-coat.html, id L04582.
Form and metre
A Coat is 24 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 62% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
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--AB-BB-- coatA · embroideries · mythologies · throatA · itB · eye · itB · itB · enterprise · naked
- 2 ----ABAB--C--C whisperer · once · air · companions · hoofA · comeB · roofA · homeB · wrongs · me · whileC · ceremony · things · defileC
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.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I made my song a coat | 6 | ······ |
| Covered with embroideries | 7 | /˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Out of old mythologies | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| From heel to throat; | 4 | ···· |
| But the fools caught it, | 5 | ····· |
| Wore it in the world's eye | 6 | ······ |
| As though they'd wrought it. | 5 | ····· |
| Song, let them take it | 5 | ····· |
| For there's more enterprise | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In walking naked. | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| While I, from that reed-throated whisperer | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Who comes at need, although not now as once | 10 | ·········· |
| A clear articulation in the air | 10 | ···˘˘/˘··· |
| But inwardly, surmise companions | 9 | ·/˘˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Beyond the fling of the dull ass's hoof, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| --Ben Jonson's phrase--and find when June is come | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| At Kyle-na-no under that ancient roof | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A sterner conscience and a friendlier home, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| I can forgive even that wrong of wrongs, | 10 | ··˘//˘···· |
| Those undreamt accidents that have made me | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| --Seeing that Fame has perished this long while | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Being but a part of ancient ceremony-- | 11 | /····/˘/˘·˘ |
| Notorious, till all my priceless things | 10 | ˘/˘˘···/˘· |
| Are but a post the passing dogs defile. | 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.