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Words I didn't know 427 words

Taken from the following poems, each of which I love: rnrnThe High-Toned Old Christian WomanrnTattoornThe Emperor Of Ice-CreamrnThe House Was Quiet And The World Was Calm.rnThe Motive For MetaphorrnThe Idea Of Order At Key WestrnThe High-Toned Old Christian womanrnThe Man on The Dumprn13 Ways of looking at a BlackbirdrnAnecdote of the JarrnPeter Quince at the Clavier

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0% Mastered %
  1. acrid
    strong and sharp;"the pungent taste of radishes"
    When you were Eve, its acrid juice was sweet,nUntasted, in its heavenly, orchard air.
  2. acute
    ending in a sharp point
    It was her voice that madenThe sky acutest at its vanishing.
  3. affix
    attach to
    Let the lamp affix its beam.
  4. air
    a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  5. ala
    a flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism
    Alas!
  6. alas
    by bad luck
    Alas!
  7. amorist
    one dedicated to love and lovemaking especially one who writes about love
    But in our amours amorists discernnSuch fluctuations that their scriveningnIs breathless to attend each quirky turn.
  8. amount
    how much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify
    This parable, in sense, amounts to this:nThe honey of heaven may or may not come,nBut that of earth both comes and goes at once.
  9. amour
    a usually secretive or illicit sexual relationship
    But in our amours amorists discernnSuch fluctuations that their scriveningnIs breathless to attend each quirky turn.
  10. anchor
    a mechanical device that prevents a vessel from moving
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  11. anecdotal
    having the character of an anecdote
    Yet you persist with anecdotal blissnTo make believe a starry co naissance.
  12. Appalachian
    a native or inhabitant of Appalachia
    An inchling bristles in these pines,nnBristles, and points their Appalachian tangs,nAnd fears not portly Azcan nor his hoos.
  13. arrogant
    having or showing feelings of unwarranted importance out of overbearing pride
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  14. artificer
    a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft
    She was the single artificer of the worldnIn which she sang.
  15. aspect
    a characteristic to be considered
    Like a dull scholar, I behold, in love,nAn ancient aspect touching a new mind.
  16. atmosphere
    the envelope of gases surrounding any celestial body
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  17. autumn
    the season when the leaves fall from the trees
    The Motive for Metaphornby nnYou like it under the trees in autumn,nBecause everything is half dead.
  18. bald
    lacking hair on all or most of the scalp
    When amorists grow bald, then amours shrinknInto the compass and curriculumnOf introspective exiles, lecturing.
  19. balmy
    mild and pleasant
    I know no magic trees, no balmy boughs,nNo silver-ruddy, gold-vermilion fruits.
  20. bantam
    any of various small breeds of fowl
    Bantams in Pine-Woods t nnnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  21. barber
    a hairdresser who cuts hair and shaves beards as a trade
    Have all the barbers lived in vainnThat not one curl in nature has survived?
  22. bare
    lacking its natural or customary covering
    Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the same
  23. bawdiness
    the trait of behaving in an obscene manner
    Thus, our bawdiness,nUnpurged by epitaph, indulged at last,nIs equally converted into palms,nSquiggling like saxophones.
  24. belly
    the region of the body of a vertebrate between the thorax and the pelvis
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  25. bid
    propose a payment
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  26. blackamoor
    a person with dark skin who comes from Africa (or whose ancestors came from Africa)
    Damned universal cock, as if the sunnWas blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.
  27. blazing
    shining intensely
    Damned universal cock, as if the sunnWas blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.
  28. bless
    make the sign of the cross over someone in order to call on God for protection; consecrate
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  29. bliss
    a state of extreme happiness
    Yet you persist with anecdotal blissnTo make believe a starry co naissance.
  30. bloom
    produce or yield flowers
    Suppose these couriers brought amid their trainnA damsel heightened by eternal bloom.
  31. bone
    rigid connective tissue that makes up the skeleton of vertebrates
    The webs of your eyesnAre fastenednTo the flesh and bones of younAs to rafters or grass.
  32. bones
    a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance
    The webs of your eyesnAre fastenednTo the flesh and bones of younAs to rafters or grass.
  33. boom
    a deep prolonged loud noise
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  34. bough
    any of the larger branches of a tree
    I know no magic trees, no balmy boughs,nNo silver-ruddy, gold-vermilion fruits.
  35. bravura
    brilliant and showy technical skill
    Where shall I findnBravura adequate to this great hymn?
  36. breathless
    not breathing or able to breathe except with difficulty
    But in our amours amorists discernnSuch fluctuations that their scriveningnIs breathless to attend each quirky turn.
  37. bristle
    a stiff hair
    An inchling bristles in these pines,nnBristles, and points their Appalachian tangs,nAnd fears not portly Azcan nor his hoos.
  38. broaden
    make broader
    Most venerable heart, the lustiest conceitnIs not too lusty for your broadening.
  39. broadening
    the act of making something wider
    Most venerable heart, the lustiest conceitnIs not too lusty for your broadening.
  40. bronze
    an alloy of copper and tin and sometimes other elements; also any copper-base alloy containing other elements in place of tin
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  41. burst
    come open suddenly and violently, as if from internal pressure
    And thennA deep up-pouring from some saltier wellnWithin me, bursts its watery syllable.
  42. caftan
    a (cotton or silk) cloak with full sleeves and sash reaching down to the ankles; worn by men in the Levant
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  43. calm
    not agitated; without losing self-possession
    The House Was Quiet And The World Was CalmnnThe house was quiet and the world was calm.
  44. centurion
    (ancient Rome) the leader of 100 soldiers
    Meantime, centurions guffaw and beatnTheir shrilling tankards on the table-boards.
  45. chieftain
    the head of a tribe or clan
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  46. Chinese
    of or pertaining to China or its peoples or cultures
    III.nIs it for nothing, then, that old ChinesenSat titivating by their mountain poolsnOr in the Yangtze studied out their beards?
  47. choir
    a chorus that sings as part of a religious ceremony
    It is a red bird that seeks out his choirnAmong the choirs of wind and wet and wing.
  48. choral
    related to or written for or performed by a chorus or choir
    It was part of the colossal sun,nn Surrounded by its choral rings,n Still far away.
  49. chord
    a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  50. chorister
    a singer in a choir
    That scrawny cry--It wasn A chorister whose c preceded the choir.
  51. circle
    ellipse in which the two axes are of equal length; a plane curve generated by one point moving at a constant distance from a fixed point
    XII.nA blue pigeon it is, that circles the blue sky,nOn sidelong wing, around and round and round.
  52. cistern
    a sac or cavity containing fluid especially lymph or cerebrospinal fluid
    Thus,nThe conscience is converted into palms,nLike windy cisterns hankering for hymns.
  53. cock
    adult male chicken
    Damned universal cock, as if the sunnWas blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.
  54. coiffure
    the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman's hair)
    You know the mountainous coiffures of Bath.
  55. colossal
    so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
    It was part of the colossal sun,nn Surrounded by its choral rings,n Still far away.
  56. compass
    navigational instrument for finding directions
    When amorists grow bald, then amours shrinknInto the compass and curriculumnOf introspective exiles, lecturing.
  57. conceit
    the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; false pride
    Most venerable heart, the lustiest conceitnIs not too lusty for your broadening.
  58. concupiscent
    vigorously passionate
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  59. conscience
    motivation deriving logically from ethical or moral principles that govern a person's thoughts and actions
    Thus,nThe conscience is converted into palms,nLike windy cisterns hankering for hymns.
  60. coral
    marine colonial polyp characterized by a calcareous skeleton; masses in a variety of shapes often forming reefs
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  61. courier
    a person who carries a message
    Suppose these couriers brought amid their trainnA damsel heightened by eternal bloom.
  62. crawl
    move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
    It crawls over the water.
  63. cream
    the part of milk containing the butterfat
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  64. cricket
    leaping insect; male makes chirping noises by rubbing the forewings together
    Remember how the crickets camenOut of their mother grass, like little kin,nIn the pale nights, when your first imagerynFound inklings of your bond to all that dust.
  65. cripple
    deprive of the use of a limb, especially a leg
    The wind moves like a cripple among the leavesnAnd repeats words without meaning.
  66. crown
    an ornamental jeweled headdress signifying sovereignty
    Le Monocle de Mon Oncle t nby nn"Mother of heaven, Regina of the clouds,nO scepter of the sun, crown of the moon,nThere is not nothing, no, no, never nothing,nLike the clashed edges of two words that kill."
  67. crumple
    to gather something into small wrinkles or folds
    Shall I uncrumple this much-crumpled thing?
  68. curd
    coagulated milk; used to make cheese
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  69. curious
    eager to investigate and learn or learn more (sometimes about others' concerns)
    IX.nIn verses wild with motion, full of din,nLoudened by cries, by clashes, quick and surenAs the deadly thought of men accomplishingnTheir curious fates in war, come, celebratenThe faith of forty, ward of Cupido.
  70. curl
    form a curl, curve, or kink
    Have all the barbers lived in vainnThat not one curl in nature has survived?
  71. curriculum
    an integrated course of academic studies
    When amorists grow bald, then amours shrinknInto the compass and curriculumnOf introspective exiles, lecturing.
  72. damned
    people who are condemned to eternal punishment
    Damned universal cock, as if the sunnWas blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.
  73. damsel
    a young unmarried woman
    Suppose these couriers brought amid their trainnA damsel heightened by eternal bloom.
  74. dark
    devoid of or deficient in light or brightness; shadowed or black
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  75. dawdle
    hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.
    Let the wenches dawdle in such dressnAs they are used to wear, and let the boysnBring flowers in last month's newspapers.
  76. demarcation
    the boundary of a specific area
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  77. descend
    move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  78. din
    a loud harsh or strident noise
    IX.nIn verses wild with motion, full of din,nLoudened by cries, by clashes, quick and surenAs the deadly thought of men accomplishingnTheir curious fates in war, come, celebratenThe faith of forty, ward of Cupido.
  79. disaffected
    discontented as toward authority
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  80. discern
    detect with the senses
    But in our amours amorists discernnSuch fluctuations that their scriveningnIs breathless to attend each quirky turn.
  81. distend
    cause to expand as it by internal pressure
    Two golden gourds distended on our vines,nInto the autumn weather, splashed with frost,nDistorted by hale fatness, turned grotesque.
  82. distinct
    constituting a separate entity or part
    Like a rose rabbi, later, I pursued,nAnd still pursue, the origin and coursenOf love, but until now I never knewnThat fluttering things have so distinct a shade.
  83. doleful
    filled with or evoking sadness
    But note the unconscionable treachery of fate,nThat makes us weep, laugh, grunt and groan, and shoutnDoleful heroics, pinching gestures forthnFrom madness or delight, without regardnTo that first, foremost law.
  84. dominant
    most frequent or common
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  85. dresser
    furniture with drawers for keeping clothes
    Take from the dresser of deal.
  86. electric
    using or providing or producing or transmitting or operated by electricity
    For me, the firefly's quick, electric strokenTicks tediously the time of one more year.
  87. emblazon
    decorate with heraldic arms
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  88. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheetnOn which she embroidered fantails oncenAnd spread it so as to cover her face.
  89. emperor
    the male ruler of an empire
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  90. empty
    holding or containing nothing
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  91. enchant
    cast a spell over someone or something; put a hex on someone or something
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  92. ephemeral
    anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
    VI.nIf men at forty will be painting lakesnThe ephemeral blues must merge for them in one,nThe basic slate, the universal hue.
  93. epitaph
    an inscription on a tombstone or monument in memory of the person buried there
    Thus, our bawdiness,nUnpurged by epitaph, indulged at last,nIs equally converted into palms,nSquiggling like saxophones.
  94. eternal
    continuing forever or indefinitely
    Suppose these couriers brought amid their trainnA damsel heightened by eternal bloom.
  95. Eve
    (Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
    When you were Eve, its acrid juice was sweet,nUntasted, in its heavenly, orchard air.
  96. excel
    distinguish oneself
    But it excels in this, that as the fruitnOf love, it is a book too mad to readnBefore one merely reads to pass the time.
  97. exhilaration
    the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  98. exile
    the act of expelling a person from their native land
    When amorists grow bald, then amours shrinknInto the compass and curriculumnOf introspective exiles, lecturing.
  99. fan
    a device for creating a current of air by movement of a surface or surfaces
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  100. fancy
    not plain; decorative or ornamented
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  101. fat
    a soft greasy substance occurring in organic tissue and consisting of a mixture of lipids (mostly triglycerides)
    Fat! Fat! Fat! Fat! I am the personal.
  102. fatal
    bringing death
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  103. fiction
    a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact
    The High-Toned Old Christian WomannnttPoetry is the supreme fiction, Madame.
  104. fictive
    capable of imaginative creation
    But fictive thingsnWink as they will.
  105. filament
    a thin wire (usually tungsten) that is heated white hot by the passage of an electric current
    There are filaments of your eyesnOn the surface of the waternAnd in the edges of the snow.
  106. finale
    the closing section of a musical composition
    Let be be finale of seem.
  107. find
    discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
    A torrent will fall from him when he finds.
  108. flagellant
    a person who whips himself as a religious penance
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  109. flash
    emit a brief burst of light
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  110. flesh
    the soft tissue of the body of a vertebrate: mainly muscle tissue and fat
    The webs of your eyesnAre fastenednTo the flesh and bones of younAs to rafters or grass.
  111. flies
    (theater) the space over the stage (out of view of the audience) used to store scenery (drop curtains)
    II.nA red bird flies across the golden floor.
  112. flight
    an instance of traveling by air
    A white pigeon it is, that flutters to the ground,nGrown tired of flight.
  113. fluctuation
    an instance of change; the rate or magnitude of change
    But in our amours amorists discernnSuch fluctuations that their scriveningnIs breathless to attend each quirky turn.
  114. flutter
    flap the wings rapidly or fly with flapping movements
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  115. fluttering
    the motion made by flapping up and down
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  116. foist
    to force onto another
    The sea of spuming thought foists up againnThe radiant bubble that she was.
  117. foot
    the pedal extremity of vertebrates other than human beings
    If her horny feet protrude, they comenTo show how cold she is, and dumb.
  118. fop
    a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  119. foremost
    ranking above all others
    But note the unconscionable treachery of fate,nThat makes us weep, laugh, grunt and groan, and shoutnDoleful heroics, pinching gestures forthnFrom madness or delight, without regardnTo that first, foremost law.
  120. formed
    having or given a form or shape
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  121. forsythia
    any of various early blooming oleaceous shrubs of the genus Forsythia; native to eastern Asia and southern Europe but widely cultivated for their branches of bright yellow bell-shaped flowers
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at y
  122. fortune
    your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you)
    I am a man of fortune greeting heirs;nFor it has come that thus I greet the spring.
  123. forty
    the cardinal number that is the product of ten and four
    VI.nIf men at forty will be painting lakesnThe ephemeral blues must merge for them in one,nThe basic slate, the universal hue.
  124. fragrant
    pleasant-smelling
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  125. gasp
    a short labored intake of breath with the mouth open
    It may be that in all her phrases stirrednThe grinding water and the gasping wind;nBut it was she and not the sea we heard.
  126. gaze
    a long fixed look
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  127. genius
    unusual mental ability
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  128. gesture
    motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling
    The ever-hooded, tragic-gestured seanWas merely a place by which she walked to sing.
  129. ghost
    the visible disembodied soul of a dead person
    Why, without pity on these studious ghosts,nDo you come dripping in your hair from sleep?
  130. glassy
    (used of eyes) lacking liveliness
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  131. glitter
    the quality of shining with a bright reflected light
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the...
  132. gobbet
    a lump or chunk of raw meat
    Every day, I foundnMan proved a gobbet in my mincing world.
  133. gourd
    any vine of the family Cucurbitaceae that bears fruits with hard rinds
    Two golden gourds distended on our vines,nInto the autumn weather, splashed with frost,nDistorted by hale fatness, turned grotesque.
  134. gown
    a woman's dress, usually with a close-fitting bodice and a long flared skirt, often worn on formal occasions
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  135. greeting
    (usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting)
    I am a man of fortune greeting heirs;nFor it has come that thus I greet the spring.
  136. grind
    reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading
    It may be that in all her phrases stirrednThe grinding water and the gasping wind;nBut it was she and not the sea we heard.
  137. grotesque
    distorted and unnatural in shape or size; abnormal and hideous
    Two golden gourds distended on our vines,nInto the autumn weather, splashed with frost,nDistorted by hale fatness, turned grotesque.
  138. ground
    the solid part of the earth's surface
    An apple serves as well as any skullnTo be the book in which to read a round,nAnd is as excellent, in that it is composednOf what, like skulls, comes rotting back to ground.
  139. guffaw
    a burst of deep loud hearty laughter
    Meantime, centurions guffaw and beatnTheir shrilling tankards on the table-boards.
  140. hackle
    long slender feather on the necks of e.g. turkeys and pheasants
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  141. hale
    exhibiting or restored to vigorous good health
    Two golden gourds distended on our vines,nInto the autumn weather, splashed with frost,nDistorted by hale fatness, turned grotesque.
  142. half
    one of two equal parts of a divisible whole
    The Motive for Metaphornby nnYou like it under the trees in autumn,nBecause everything is half dead.
  143. halt
    cause to stop
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  144. hammer
    a hand tool with a heavy rigid head and a handle; used to deliver an impulsive force by striking
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammer
  145. hankering
    a yearning for something or to do something
    Thus,nThe conscience is converted into palms,nLike windy cisterns hankering for hymns.
  146. haunt
    follow stealthily or recur constantly and spontaneously to
    Take the moral law and make a nave of itnAnd from the nave build haunted heaven.
  147. haunted
    inhabited by or as if by apparitions
    Take the moral law and make a nave of itnAnd from the nave build haunted heaven.
  148. have in mind
    intend to refer to
    But, after all, I know a tree that bearsnA semblance to the thing I have in mind.
  149. heap
    a collection of objects laid on top of each other
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  150. hear
    perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
    The song and water were not medleyed soundnEven if what she sang was what she heard,nSince what she sang was uttered word by word.
  151. heard
    detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
    The song and water were not medleyed soundnEven if what she sang was what she heard,nSince what she sang was uttered word by word.
  152. heave
    move or cause to move in a specified way, direction, or position
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  153. heaven
    any place of complete bliss and delight and peace
    Take the moral law and make a nave of itnAnd from the nave build haunted heaven.
  154. heaving
    the act of lifting something with great effort
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  155. heir
    a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another
    I am a man of fortune greeting heirs;nFor it has come that thus I greet the spring.
  156. henna
    a reddish brown dye used especially on hair
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  157. heroics
    ostentatious or vainglorious or extravagant or melodramatic conduct
    But note the unconscionable treachery of fate,nThat makes us weep, laugh, grunt and groan, and shoutnDoleful heroics, pinching gestures forthnFrom madness or delight, without regardnTo that first, foremost law.
  158. high-toned
    pretentiously elegant
    The High-Toned Old Christian WomannnttPoetry is the supreme fiction, Madame.
  159. historic
    belonging to the past; of what is important or famous in the past
    I shall not play the flat historic scale.
  160. honey
    a sweet yellow liquid produced by bees
    This parable, in sense, amounts to this:nThe honey of heaven may or may not come,nBut that of earth both comes and goes at once.
  161. hood
    a headdress that protects the head and face
    The ever-hooded, tragic-gestured seanWas merely a place by which she walked to sing.
  162. horizon
    the line at which the sky and Earth appear to meet
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  163. horny
    having horns or hornlike projections
    If her horny feet protrude, they comenTo show how cold she is, and dumb.
  164. hour
    a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
    She measured to the hour its solitude.
  165. house
    a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
    The House Was Quiet And The World Was CalmnnThe house was quiet and the world was calm.
  166. hue
    the quality of a color as determined by its dominant wavelength
    VI.nIf men at forty will be painting lakesnThe ephemeral blues must merge for them in one,nThe basic slate, the universal hue.
  167. hullabaloo
    disturbance usually in protest
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  168. hyacinth
    any of numerous bulbous perennial herbs
    It is a theme for Hyacinth alone.
  169. hymn
    a song of praise (to God or to a saint or to a nation)
    Thus,nThe conscience is converted into palms,nLike windy cisterns hankering for hymns.
  170. imagery
    the ability to form mental images of things or events
    Remember how the crickets camenOut of their mother grass, like little kin,nIn the pale nights, when your first imagerynFound inklings of your bond to all that dust.
  171. impeccable
    without fault or error
    IV.nThis luscious and impeccable fruit of lifenFalls, it appears, of its own weight to earth.
  172. in love
    marked by foolish or unreasoning fondness
    Like a dull scholar, I behold, in love,nAn ancient aspect touching a new mind.
  173. in principle
    with regard to fundamentals although not concerning details
    We agree in principle.
  174. in the air
    on everybody's mind
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  175. in vain
    to no avail
    Have all the barbers lived in vainnThat not one curl in nature has survived?
  176. indulge
    yield (to); give satisfaction to
    Thus, our bawdiness,nUnpurged by epitaph, indulged at last,nIs equally converted into palms,nSquiggling like saxophones.
  177. inhuman
    without compunction or human feeling
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  178. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    Remember how the crickets camenOut of their mother grass, like little kin,nIn the pale nights, when your first imagerynFound inklings of your bond to all that dust.
  179. intensity
    high level or degree; the property of being intense
    The measure of the intensity of lovenIs measure, also, of the verve of earth.
  180. intimation
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  181. introspective
    given to examining own sensory and perceptual experiences
    When amorists grow bald, then amours shrinknInto the compass and curriculumnOf introspective exiles, lecturing.
  182. jovial
    full of or showing high-spirited merriment
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  183. juice
    the liquid part that can be extracted from plant or animal tissue by squeezing or cooking
    When you were Eve, its acrid juice was sweet,nUntasted, in its heavenly, orchard air.
  184. juniper
    desert shrub of Syria and Arabia having small white flowers; constitutes the juniper of the Old Testament; sometimes placed in genus Genista
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the...
  185. keen
    intense or sharp
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  186. Key West
    a town on the westernmost of the Florida keys in the Gulf of Mexico
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  187. kin
    a person having kinship with another or others
    Remember how the crickets camenOut of their mother grass, like little kin,nIn the pale nights, when your first imagerynFound inklings of your bond to all that dust.
  188. lack
    the state of needing something that is absent or unavailable
    Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheetnOn which she embroidered fantails oncenAnd spread it so as to cover her face.
  189. lake
    a body of (usually fresh) water surrounded by land
    VI.nIf men at forty will be painting lakesnThe ephemeral blues must merge for them in one,nThe basic slate, the universal hue.
  190. lamp
    a piece of furniture holding one or more electric light bulbs
    Let the lamp affix its beam.
  191. lecturing
    teaching by giving a discourse on some subject (typically to a class)
    When amorists grow bald, then amours shrinknInto the compass and curriculumnOf introspective exiles, lecturing.
  192. lift
    raise from a lower to a higher position
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  193. lighting
    having abundant light or illumination
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  194. like
    having the same or similar characteristics
    Thus,nThe conscience is converted into palms,nLike windy cisterns hankering for hymns.
  195. lily
    any liliaceous plant of the genus Lilium having showy pendulous flowers
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  196. listen in
    listen quietly, without contributing to the conversation
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the same b...
  197. listener
    someone who listens attentively
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the same b...
  198. live in
    live in the house where one works
    Have all the barbers lived in vainnThat not one curl in nature has survived?
  199. long time
    a prolonged period of time
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the...
  200. lordly
    of or befitting a lord
    Like a dark rabbi, InObserved, when young, the nature of mankind,nIn lordly study.
  201. love
    a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
    You know how Utamaro's beauties soughtnThe end of love in their all-speaking braids.
  202. luscious
    having strong sexual appeal
    IV.nThis luscious and impeccable fruit of lifenFalls, it appears, of its own weight to earth.
  203. lusty
    vigorously passionate
    Most venerable heart, the lustiest conceitnIs not too lusty for your broadening.
  204. madame
    title used for a married Frenchwoman
    The High-Toned Old Christian WomannnttPoetry is the supreme fiction, Madame.
  205. madness
    a feeling of intense anger
    But note the unconscionable treachery of fate,nThat makes us weep, laugh, grunt and groan, and shoutnDoleful heroics, pinching gestures forthnFrom madness or delight, without regardnTo that first, foremost law.
  206. make believe
    represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like
    Yet you persist with anecdotal blissnTo make believe a starry co naissance.
  207. maker
    a person who makes things
    For she was the maker of the song she sang.
  208. mankind
    all of the living human inhabitants of the earth
    Like a dark rabbi, InObserved, when young, the nature of mankind,nIn lordly study.
  209. March
    the month following February and preceding April
    At the earliest ending of winter,n In March, a scrawny cry from outsiden Seemed like a sound in his mind.
  210. mask
    a covering to disguise or conceal the face
    The sea was not a mask.
  211. masque
    a party of guests wearing costumes and masks
    But takenThe opposing law and make a peristyle,nAnd from the peristyle project a masquenBeyond the planets.
  212. mastered
    understood perfectly
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  213. may
    thorny Eurasian shrub of small tree having dense clusters of white to scarlet flowers followed by deep red berries; established as an escape in eastern North America
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  214. meaningless
    having no meaning or direction or purpose
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  215. meantime
    the time between one event, process, or period and another
    Meantime, centurions guffaw and beatnTheir shrilling tankards on the table-boards.
  216. measure
    determine the measurements of something or somebody, take measurements of
    She measured to the hour its solitude.
  217. measured
    having notes of fixed rhythmic value
    She measured to the hour its solitude.
  218. melt
    reduce or cause to be reduced from a solid to a liquid state, usually by heating
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  219. memorabilia
    a record of things worth remembering
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  220. merge
    mix together different elements
    VI.nIf men at forty will be painting lakesnThe ephemeral blues must merge for them in one,nThe basic slate, the universal hue.
  221. meridian
    an imaginary great circle on the surface of the earth passing through the north and south poles at right angles to the equator
    No spring can follow past meridian.
  222. metaphor
    a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a similarity
    The Motive for Metaphornby nnYou like it under the trees in autumn,nBecause everything is half dead.
  223. mimic
    imitate (a person or manner), especially for satirical effect
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  224. mince
    cut into small pieces
    Every day, I foundnMan proved a gobbet in my mincing world.
  225. mock
    treat with contempt
    And so I mocked her in magnificent measure.
  226. Mon
    a member of a Buddhist people living in Myanmar and adjacent parts of Thailand
    Le Monocle de Mon Oncle t nby nn"Mother of heaven, Regina of the clouds,nO scepter of the sun, crown of the moon,nThere is not nothing, no, no, never nothing,nLike the clashed edges of two words that kill."
  227. monocle
    lens for correcting defective vision in one eye; held in place by facial muscles
    Le Monocle de Mon Oncle t nby nn"Mother of heaven, Regina of the clouds,nO scepter of the sun, crown of the moon,nThere is not nothing, no, no, never nothing,nLike the clashed edges of two words that kill."
  228. moon
    the natural satellite of the Earth
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  229. moral
    concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior and character based on those principles
    Take the moral law and make a nave of itnAnd from the nave build haunted heaven.
  230. mountainous
    containing many mountains
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  231. move
    change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
    The wind moves like a cripple among the leavesnAnd repeats words without meaning.
  232. mule
    hybrid offspring of a male donkey and a female horse; usually sterile
    VII.nThe mules that angels ride come slowly downnThe blazing passes, from beyond the sun.
  233. muleteer
    a worker who drives mules
    These muleteers are dainty of their way.
  234. muscular
    having a robust muscular body-build characterized by predominance of structures (bone and muscle and connective tissue) developed from the embryonic mesodermal layer
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  235. muzzy
    confused and vague; used especially of thinking
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  236. mystic
    having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  237. nature
    the natural physical world including plants and animals and landscapes etc.
    Have all the barbers lived in vainnThat not one curl in nature has survived?
  238. nave
    the central area of a church
    Take the moral law and make a nave of itnAnd from the nave build haunted heaven.
  239. necklace
    jewelry consisting of a cord or chain (often bearing gems) worn about the neck as an ornament (especially by women)
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  240. never
    not ever; at no time in the past or future
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  241. nothing
    in no respect; to no degree
    Le Monocle de Mon Oncle t nby nn"Mother of heaven, Regina of the clouds,nO scepter of the sun, crown of the moon,nThere is not nothing, no, no, never nothing,nLike the clashed edges of two words that kill."
  242. novelty
    originality by virtue of being refreshingly novel
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  243. oblation
    the act of contributing to the funds of a church or charity
    I quiz all sounds, all thoughts, all everythingnFor the music and manner of the paladinsnTo make oblation fit.
  244. obscure
    not clearly understood or expressed
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  245. odious
    unequivocally detestable
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  246. Old
    of a very early stage in development
    The High-Toned Old Christian WomannnttPoetry is the supreme fiction, Madame.
  247. on the table
    able to be negotiated or arranged by compromise
    Meantime, centurions guffaw and beatnTheir shrilling tankards on the table-boards.
  248. one
    the smallest whole number or a numeral representing this number
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  249. only
    without any others being included or involved
    The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
  250. oppose
    be against; express opposition to
    But takenThe opposing law and make a peristyle,nAnd from the peristyle project a masquenBeyond the planets.
  251. orchard
    garden consisting of a small cultivated wood without undergrowth
    When you were Eve, its acrid juice was sweet,nUntasted, in its heavenly, orchard air.
  252. Order
    (usually plural) the status or rank or office of a Christian clergyman in an ecclesiastical hierarchy
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  253. origin
    the place where something begins, where it springs into being
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  254. outer
    located outside
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  255. page
    one side of one leaf (of a book or magazine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains
    The words were spoken as if there was no book,nExcept that the reader leaned above the page,nnWanted to lean, wanted much to benThe scholar to whom his book is true, to whomnnThe summer night is like a perfection of thought.
  256. paladin
    someone who fights for a cause
    I quiz all sounds, all thoughts, all everythingnFor the music and manner of the paladinsnTo make oblation fit.
  257. pale
    a wooden strip forming part of a fence
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  258. palm
    the inner surface of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers
    Thus,nThe conscience is converted into palms,nLike windy cisterns hankering for hymns.
  259. panache
    distinctive and stylish elegance
    The sun was rising at six,n No longer a battered panache above snow...
  260. papier-mache
    a substance made from paper pulp that can be molded when wet and painted when dry
    It was not from the vast ventriloquismn Of sleep's faded papier-m̃ƒƒƒÌƒƒ‚̃‚Ì‚å¢ch̃ƒƒƒÌƒƒ‚̃‚Ì‚å©...
  261. parable
    a short moral story (often with animal characters)
    This parable, in sense, amounts to this:nThe honey of heaven may or may not come,nBut that of earth both comes and goes at once.
  262. peristyle
    a colonnade surrounding a building or enclosing a court
    But takenThe opposing law and make a peristyle,nAnd from the peristyle project a masquenBeyond the planets.
  263. phrase
    an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
    It may be that in all her phrases stirrednThe grinding water and the gasping wind;nBut it was she and not the sea we heard.
  264. pigeon
    wild and domesticated birds having a heavy body and short legs
    XII.nA blue pigeon it is, that circles the blue sky,nOn sidelong wing, around and round and round.
  265. pine
    a coniferous tree
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  266. poem
    a composition written in metrical feet forming rhythmical lines
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  267. poet
    a writer of poems (the term is usually reserved for writers of good poetry)
    You ten-foot poet among inchlings.
  268. poetry
    literature in metrical form
    The High-Toned Old Christian WomannnttPoetry is the supreme fiction, Madame.
  269. pole
    a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  270. pool
    a small body of standing water (rainwater) or other liquid
    III.nIs it for nothing, then, that old ChinesenSat titivating by their mountain poolsnOr in the Yangtze studied out their beards?
  271. portal
    a grand and imposing entrance (often extended metaphorically)
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  272. portion out
    give out as one's portion or share
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  273. portly
    euphemisms for `fat'
    An inchling bristles in these pines,nnBristles, and points their Appalachian tangs,nAnd fears not portly Azcan nor his hoos.
  274. project
    a planned undertaking
    But takenThe opposing law and make a peristyle,nAnd from the peristyle project a masquenBeyond the planets.
  275. protrude
    extend out or project in space
    If her horny feet protrude, they comenTo show how cold she is, and dumb.
  276. proud
    feeling self-respect or pleasure in something by which you measure your self-worth; or being a reason for pride
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  277. proved
    established beyond doubt
    Every day, I foundnMan proved a gobbet in my mincing world.
  278. pursue
    follow in or as if in pursuit
    Like a rose rabbi, later, I pursued,nAnd still pursue, the origin and coursenOf love, but until now I never knewnThat fluttering things have so distinct a shade.
  279. pursued
    followed with enmity as if to harm
    Like a rose rabbi, later, I pursued,nAnd still pursue, the origin and coursenOf love, but until now I never knewnThat fluttering things have so distinct a shade.
  280. quick
    moving quickly and lightly
    For me, the firefly's quick, electric strokenTicks tediously the time of one more year.
  281. quiet
    characterized by an absence or near absence of agitation or activity
    The House Was Quiet And The World Was CalmnnThe house was quiet and the world was calm.
  282. quirky
    informal terms; strikingly unconventional
    But in our amours amorists discernnSuch fluctuations that their scriveningnIs breathless to attend each quirky turn.
  283. rabbi
    spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation; qualified to expound and apply Jewish law
    Like a dark rabbi, InObserved, when young, the nature of mankind,nIn lordly study.
  284. reader
    a person who can read; a literate person
    The reader became the book; and summer nightnnWas like the conscious being of the book.
  285. reality
    the state of being actual or real
    It was liken A new knowledge of reality.
  286. red
    red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf
  287. red willow
    Eurasian osier having reddish or purple twigs and bark rich in tannin
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  288. regard
    the condition of being honored (esteemed or respected or well regarded)
    But note the unconscionable treachery of fate,nThat makes us weep, laugh, grunt and groan, and shoutnDoleful heroics, pinching gestures forthnFrom madness or delight, without regardnTo that first, foremost law.
  289. rind
    the natural outer covering of food (usually removed before eating)
    We hang like warty squashes, streaked and rayed,nThe laughing sky will see the two of usnWashed into rinds by rotting winter winds.
  290. rings
    gymnastic apparatus consisting of a pair of heavy metal circles (usually covered with leather) suspended by ropes; used for gymnastic exercises
    It was part of the colossal sun,nn Surrounded by its choral rings,n Still far away.
  291. rise
    move upward
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  292. roller
    a mechanical device consisting of a cylindrical tube around which the hair is wound to curl it
    The Emperor of Ice-CreamnnCall the roller of big cigars,nThe muscular one, and bid him whipnIn kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
  293. rose
    any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  294. rot
    break down
    An apple serves as well as any skullnTo be the book in which to read a round,nAnd is as excellent, in that it is composednOf what, like skulls, comes rotting back to ground.
  295. rough in
    prepare in preliminary or sketchy form
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the...
  296. round
    having a circular shape
    An apple serves as well as any skullnTo be the book in which to read a round,nAnd is as excellent, in that it is composednOf what, like skulls, comes rotting back to ground.
  297. ruddy
    inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  298. saxophone
    a single-reed woodwind with a conical bore
    Thus, our bawdiness,nUnpurged by epitaph, indulged at last,nIs equally converted into palms,nSquiggling like saxophones.
  299. scale
    an ordered reference standard
    I shall not play the flat historic scale.
  300. scepter
    a ceremonial or emblematic staff
    Le Monocle de Mon Oncle t nby nn"Mother of heaven, Regina of the clouds,nO scepter of the sun, crown of the moon,nThere is not nothing, no, no, never nothing,nLike the clashed edges of two words that kill."
  301. scholar
    a learned person (especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines
    The words were spoken as if there was no book,nExcept that the reader leaned above the page,nnWanted to lean, wanted much to benThe scholar to whom his book is true, to whomnnThe summer night is like a perfection of thought.
  302. scrawny
    being very thin
    At the earliest ending of winter,n In March, a scrawny cry from outsiden Seemed like a sound in his mind.
  303. scud
    run or move very quickly or hastily
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  304. scudding
    the act of moving along swiftly (as before a gale)
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  305. sea
    a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  306. seek
    try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
    Whose spirit is this? we said, because we knewnIt was the spirit that we sought and knewnThat we should ask this often as she sang.
  307. seek out
    look for a specific person or thing
    It is a red bird that seeks out his choirnAmong the choirs of wind and wet and wing.
  308. self
    your consciousness of your own identity
    And when she sang, the sea,nWhatever self it had, became the selfnThat was her song, for she was the maker.
  309. semblance
    an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading
    But, after all, I know a tree that bearsnA semblance to the thing I have in mind.
  310. serve
    devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas
    An apple serves as well as any skullnTo be the book in which to read a round,nAnd is as excellent, in that it is composednOf what, like skulls, comes rotting back to ground.
  311. sex
    either of the two categories (male or female) into which most organisms are divided
    XI.nIf sex were all, then every trembling handnCould make us squeak, like dolls, the wished-for words.
  312. shade
    relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body
    Like a rose rabbi, later, I pursued,nAnd still pursue, the origin and coursenOf love, but until now I never knewnThat fluttering things have so distinct a shade.
  313. shadow
    shade within clear boundaries
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  314. shag
    a matted tangle of hair or fiber
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the...
  315. shagged
    having a very rough nap or covered with hanging shags
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the...
  316. sharp
    having or made by a thin edge or sharp point; suitable for cutting or piercing
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  317. sheet
    any broad thin expanse or surface
    Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheetnOn which she embroidered fantails oncenAnd spread it so as to cover her face.
  318. sidelong
    inclining or directed to one side
    XII.nA blue pigeon it is, that circles the blue sky,nOn sidelong wing, around and round and round.
  319. silver
    a soft white precious univalent metallic element having the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal; occurs in argentite and in free form; used in coins and jewelry and tableware and photography
    I know no magic trees, no balmy boughs,nNo silver-ruddy, gold-vermilion fruits.
  320. sing
    produce tones with the voice
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  321. single
    existing alone or consisting of one entity or part or aspect or individual
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  322. sit
    take a seat
    III.nIs it for nothing, then, that old ChinesenSat titivating by their mountain poolsnOr in the Yangtze studied out their beards?
  323. sit in
    attend as a visitor
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  324. sky
    the atmosphere and outer space as viewed from the earth
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  325. slate
    a fine-grained metamorphic rock that can be split into thin layers
    VI.nIf men at forty will be painting lakesnThe ephemeral blues must merge for them in one,nThe basic slate, the universal hue.
  326. sleep
    a natural and periodic state of rest during which consciousness of the world is suspended
    Why, without pity on these studious ghosts,nDo you come dripping in your hair from sleep?
  327. sleeve
    the part of a garment that is attached at the armhole and that provides a cloth covering for the arm
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  328. slightly
    to a small degree or extent
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  329. smack
    a blow from a flat object (as an open hand)
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  330. smacking
    the act of smacking something; a blow delivered with an open hand
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  331. smell
    the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
    It is for fiery boys that star was setnAnd for sweet-smelling virgins close to them.
  332. soil
    material in the top layer of the surface of the earth in which plants can grow (especially with reference to its quality or use)
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  333. solitude
    a state of social isolation
    She measured to the hour its solitude.
  334. sought
    that is looked for
    Whose spirit is this? we said, because we knewnIt was the spirit that we sought and knewnThat we should ask this often as she sang.
  335. sound
    mechanical vibrations transmitted by an elastic medium
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  336. sphere
    a three-dimensional closed surface such that every point on the surface is equidistant from the center
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  337. spider
    predatory arachnid with eight legs, two poison fangs, two feelers, and usually two silk-spinning organs at the back end of the body; they spin silk to make cocoons for eggs or traps for prey
    TattoonnThe light is like a spider.
  338. spirit
    the vital principle or animating force within living things
    Whose spirit is this? we said, because we knewnIt was the spirit that we sought and knewnThat we should ask this often as she sang.
  339. splash
    cause (a liquid) to spatter about, especially with force
    Two golden gourds distended on our vines,nInto the autumn weather, splashed with frost,nDistorted by hale fatness, turned grotesque.
  340. spoken
    uttered through the medium of speech or characterized by speech; sometimes used in combination
    The words were spoken as if there was no book,nExcept that the reader leaned above the page,nnWanted to lean, wanted much to benThe scholar to whom his book is true, to whomnnThe summer night is like a perfection of thought.
  341. spontaneously
    in a spontaneous manner
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  342. spout
    gush forth in a sudden stream or jet
    X.nThe fops of fancy in their poems leavenMemorabilia of the mystic spouts,nSpontaneously watering their gritty soils.
  343. spread
    distribute or disperse widely
    It crawls under your eyelidsnAnd spreads its webs there--nIts two webs.
  344. spring
    move forward by leaps and bounds
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  345. spruce
    any coniferous tree of the genus Picea
    One must have a mind of wintern To regard the frost and the boughsn Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;nn And have been cold a long timen To behold the junipers shagged with ice,n The spruces rough in the distant glitternn Of the January sun; and not to thinkn Of any misery in the sound of the wind,n In the sound of a few leaves,nn Which is the sound of the landn Full of the same windn That is blowing in the...
  346. spume
    foam or froth on the sea
    The sea of spuming thought foists up againnThe radiant bubble that she was.
  347. squash
    any of numerous annual trailing plants of the genus Cucurbita grown for their fleshy edible fruits
    We hang like warty squashes, streaked and rayed,nThe laughing sky will see the two of usnWashed into rinds by rotting winter winds.
  348. squeak
    make a high-pitched, screeching noise
    XI.nIf sex were all, then every trembling handnCould make us squeak, like dolls, the wished-for words.
  349. starlight
    the light of the stars
    Last night, we sat beside a pool of pink,nClippered with lilies scudding the bright chromes,nKeen to the point of starlight, while a frognBoomed from his very belly odious chords.
  350. starred
    marked with an asterisk
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  351. starry
    abounding with or resembling stars
    Yet you persist with anecdotal blissnTo make believe a starry co naissance.
  352. steel
    an alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  353. still
    not in physical motion
    But when they go that tip still tips the tree.
  354. stir
    move an implement through
    It may be that in all her phrases stirrednThe grinding water and the gasping wind;nBut it was she and not the sea we heard.
  355. stuff
    the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  356. sublime
    of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  357. substance
    the real physical matter of which a person or thing consists
    There is a substance in us that prevails.
  358. summer
    the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
    The reader became the book; and summer nightnnWas like the conscious being of the book.
  359. sun
    the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
    Damned universal cock, as if the sunnWas blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.
  360. sunken
    having a sunken area
    If it was only the dark voice of the seanThat rose, or even colored by many waves;nIf it was only the outer voice of skynAnd cloud, of the sunken coral water-walled,nHowever clear, it would have been deep air,nThe heaving speech of air, a summer soundnRepeated in a summer without endnAnd sound alone.
  361. supreme
    greatest in status or authority or power
    The High-Toned Old Christian WomannnttPoetry is the supreme fiction, Madame.
  362. surface
    the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary
    There are filaments of your eyesnOn the surface of the waternAnd in the edges of the snow.
  363. surround
    extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle
    It was part of the colossal sun,nn Surrounded by its choral rings,n Still far away.
  364. survive
    continue in existence after (an adversity, etc.)
    Have all the barbers lived in vainnThat not one curl in nature has survived?
  365. sweet-smelling
    having a natural fragrance
    It is for fiery boys that star was setnAnd for sweet-smelling virgins close to them.
  366. syllable
    a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme
    And thennA deep up-pouring from some saltier wellnWithin me, bursts its watery syllable.
  367. tail
    the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
    Damned universal cock, as if the sunnWas blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.
  368. tang
    a tart spicy quality
    An inchling bristles in these pines,nnBristles, and points their Appalachian tangs,nAnd fears not portly Azcan nor his hoos.
  369. tank
    a large (usually metallic) vessel for holding gases or liquids
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  370. tankard
    large drinking vessel with one handle
    Meantime, centurions guffaw and beatnTheir shrilling tankards on the table-boards.
  371. tattoo
    a design on the skin made by tattooing
    TattoonnThe light is like a spider.
  372. tediously
    in a tedious manner
    For me, the firefly's quick, electric strokenTicks tediously the time of one more year.
  373. temper
    a characteristic (habitual or relatively temporary) state of feeling
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hamm...
  374. theatrical
    of or relating to the theater
    But it was more than that,nMore even than her voice, and ours, amongnThe meaningless plungings of water and the wind,nTheatrical distances, bronze shadows heapednOn high horizons, mountainous atmospheresnOf sky and sea.
  375. theme
    the subject matter of a conversation or discussion
    It is a theme for Hyacinth alone.
  376. tick
    a metallic tapping sound
    For me, the firefly's quick, electric strokenTicks tediously the time of one more year.
  377. tilt
    heel over
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.
  378. tink
    make or emit a high sound
    Allow,nTherefore, that in the planetary scenenYour disaffected flagellants, well-stuffed,nSmacking their muzzy bellies in parade,nProud of such novelties of the sublime,nSuch tink and tank and tunk-a-tunk-tunk,nMay, merely may, Madame, whip from themselvesnA jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.
  379. tinkle
    make or emit a high sound
    Descensions of their tinkling bells arrive.
  380. tip
    the extreme end of something; especially something pointed
    It stands gigantic, with a certain tipnTo which all birds come sometime in their time.
  381. titivate
    make neat, smart, or trim
    III.nIs it for nothing, then, that old ChinesenSat titivating by their mountain poolsnOr in the Yangtze studied out their beards?
  382. to order
    to specification
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  383. toned
    having or distinguished by a tone; often used in combination
    The High-Toned Old Christian WomannnttPoetry is the supreme fiction, Madame.
  384. torrent
    an overwhelming number or amount
    A torrent will fall from him when he finds.
  385. touching
    arousing affect
    Like a dull scholar, I behold, in love,nAn ancient aspect touching a new mind.
  386. tragic
    very sad; especially involving grief or death or destruction
    The ever-hooded, tragic-gestured seanWas merely a place by which she walked to sing.
  387. treachery
    an act of deliberate betrayal
    But note the unconscionable treachery of fate,nThat makes us weep, laugh, grunt and groan, and shoutnDoleful heroics, pinching gestures forthnFrom madness or delight, without regardnTo that first, foremost law.
  388. trivial
    (informal) small and of little importance
    This trivial trope reveals a way of truth.
  389. trope
    language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense
    This trivial trope reveals a way of truth.
  390. unconscionable
    greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
    But note the unconscionable treachery of fate,nThat makes us weep, laugh, grunt and groan, and shoutnDoleful heroics, pinching gestures forthnFrom madness or delight, without regardnTo that first, foremost law.
  391. universal
    applicable to or common to all members of a group or set
    Damned universal cock, as if the sunnWas blackamoor to bear your blazing tail.
  392. untasted
    still full
    When you were Eve, its acrid juice was sweet,nUntasted, in its heavenly, orchard air.
  393. until now
    used in negative statement to describe a situation that has existed up to this point or up to the present time
    Like a rose rabbi, later, I pursued,nAnd still pursue, the origin and coursenOf love, but until now I never knewnThat fluttering things have so distinct a shade.
  394. utter
    without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
    The song and water were not medleyed soundnEven if what she sang was what she heard,nSince what she sang was uttered word by word.
  395. uttered
    communicated in words
    The song and water were not medleyed soundnEven if what she sang was what she heard,nSince what she sang was uttered word by word.
  396. vain
    characteristic of false pride; having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
    Have all the barbers lived in vainnThat not one curl in nature has survived?
  397. vanishing
    a sudden or mysterious disappearance
    It was her voice that madenThe sky acutest at its vanishing.
  398. vast
    unusually great in size or amount or degree or especially extent or scope
    It was not from the vast ventriloquismn Of sleep's faded papier-m̃ƒƒƒÌƒƒ‚̃‚Ì‚å¢ch̃ƒƒƒÌƒƒ‚̃‚Ì‚å©...
  399. venerable
    profoundly honored
    Most venerable heart, the lustiest conceitnIs not too lusty for your broadening.
  400. ventriloquism
    the art of projecting your voice so that it seems to come from another source (as from a ventriloquist's dummy)
    It was not from the vast ventriloquismn Of sleep's faded papier-m̃ƒƒƒÌƒƒ‚̃‚Ì‚å¢ch̃ƒƒƒÌƒƒ‚̃‚Ì‚å©...
  401. veritable
    not counterfeit or copied
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  402. vermilion
    a variable color that is vivid red but sometimes with an orange tinge
    I know no magic trees, no balmy boughs,nNo silver-ruddy, gold-vermilion fruits.
  403. verse
    a piece of poetry
    IX.nIn verses wild with motion, full of din,nLoudened by cries, by clashes, quick and surenAs the deadly thought of men accomplishingnTheir curious fates in war, come, celebratenThe faith of forty, ward of Cupido.
  404. verve
    an energetic style
    The measure of the intensity of lovenIs measure, also, of the verve of earth.
  405. VII
    the cardinal number that is the sum of six and one
    VII.nThe mules that angels ride come slowly downnThe blazing passes, from beyond the sun.
  406. VIII
    the cardinal number that is the sum of seven and one
    VIII.
  407. vine
    a plant with a weak stem that derives support from climbing, twining, or creeping along a surface
    Two golden gourds distended on our vines,nInto the autumn weather, splashed with frost,nDistorted by hale fatness, turned grotesque.
  408. virgin
    a person who has never had sex
    It is for fiery boys that star was setnAnd for sweet-smelling virgins close to them.
  409. vital
    performing an essential function in the living body
    In the same way, you were happy in spring,nWith the half colors of quarter-things,nThe slightly brighter sky, the melting clouds,nThe single bird, the obscure moon--nnThe obscure moon lighting an obscure worldnOf things that would never be quite expressed,nWhere you yourself were not quite yourself,nAnd did not want nor have to be,nnDesiring the exhilarations of changes:nThe motive for metaphor, shrinking fromnThe weight of primary noon,nThe A B C of being,nnThe ruddy temper, the hammernOf r...
  410. ward
    a person who is under the protection or in the custody of another
    IX.nIn verses wild with motion, full of din,nLoudened by cries, by clashes, quick and surenAs the deadly thought of men accomplishingnTheir curious fates in war, come, celebratenThe faith of forty, ward of Cupido.
  411. warty
    (of skin) covered with warts or projections that resemble warts
    We hang like warty squashes, streaked and rayed,nThe laughing sky will see the two of usnWashed into rinds by rotting winter winds.
  412. wash
    clean with some chemical process
    We hang like warty squashes, streaked and rayed,nThe laughing sky will see the two of usnWashed into rinds by rotting winter winds.
  413. wench
    informal terms for a (young) woman
    Let the wenches dawdle in such dressnAs they are used to wear, and let the boysnBring flowers in last month's newspapers.
  414. west
    the cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees
    V.nIn the high west there burns a furious star.
  415. wet
    wetness caused by water
    It is a red bird that seeks out his choirnAmong the choirs of wind and wet and wing.
  416. white
    being of the achromatic color of maximum lightness; having little or no hue owing to reflection of almost all incident light
    A white pigeon it is, that flutters to the ground,nGrown tired of flight.
  417. wholly
    to a complete degree or to the full or entire extent (`whole' is often used informally for `wholly')
    The water never formed to mind or voice,nLike a body wholly body, flutteringnIts empty sleeves; and yet its mimic motionnMade constant cry, caused constantly a cry,nThat was not ours although we understood,nInhuman, of the veritable ocean.
  418. willow
    any of numerous deciduous trees and shrubs of the genus Salix
    "Gray Room" (1917)nnby nn Although you sit in a room that is gray,n Except for the silvern Of the straw-paper,n And pickn At your pale white gown;n Or lift one of the green beadsn Of your necklace,n To let it fall;n Or gaze at your green fann Printed with the red branches of a red willow;n Or, with one finger,n Move the leaf in the bowl--n The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythian Beside you...
  419. wince
    a reflex response to sudden pain
    This will make widows wince.
  420. wink
    a reflex that closes and opens the eyes rapidly
    But fictive thingsnWink as they will.
  421. winter
    the coldest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox
    We hang like warty squashes, streaked and rayed,nThe laughing sky will see the two of usnWashed into rinds by rotting winter winds.
  422. wished-for
    greatly desired
    XI.nIf sex were all, then every trembling handnCould make us squeak, like dolls, the wished-for words.
  423. woods
    the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area
    Oh! Blessed rage for order, pale Ramon,nThe maker's rage to order words of the sea,nWords of the fragrant portals, dimly-starred,nAnd of ourselves and of our origins,nIn ghostlier demarcations, keener soundsnBantams in Pine-Woods t nby nnChieftain Iffucan of Azcan in caftannOf tan with henna hackles, halt!
  424. word
    a unit of language that native speakers can identify
    The words were spoken as if there was no book,nExcept that the reader leaned above the page,nnWanted to lean, wanted much to benThe scholar to whom his book is true, to whomnnThe summer night is like a perfection of thought.
  425. Yangtze
    the longest river of Asia; flows eastward from Tibet into the East China Sea near Shanghai
    III.nIs it for nothing, then, that old ChinesenSat titivating by their mountain poolsnOr in the Yangtze studied out their beards?
  426. yeoman
    in former times was free and cultivated his own land
    I am a yeoman, as such fellows go.
  427. zone
    an area or region distinguished from adjacent parts by a distinctive feature or characteristic
    Ramon Fernandez, tell me, if you know,nWhy, when the singing ended and we turnednToward the town, tell why the glassy lights,nThe lights in the fishing boats at anchor there,nAs the night descended, tilting in the air,nMastered the night and portioned out the sea,nFixing emblazoned zones and fiery poles,nArranging, deepening, enchanting night.