Analysis of Answer to Tait
James Clerk Maxwell 1831 (Edinburgh, Scotland) – 1879 (Cambridge, England)
The mounted disk of ebonite
Has whirled before, nor whirled in vain;
Rowland of Troy, that doughty knight,
Convection currents did obtain
In such a disk, of power to wheedle,
From its loved North the subtle needle.
’Twas when Sir Rowland, as a stage
From Troy to Baltimore, took rest
In Berlin, there old Archimage,
Armed him to follow up this quest;
Right glad to find himself possessor
Of the irrepressible Professor.
But wouldst thou twirl that disk once more,
Then follow in Childe Rowland’s train,
To where in busy Baltimore
He brews the bantlings of his brain;
As he may do who still prefers
One Rowland to two Olivers.
But Rowland,—no, nor Oliver,-—
Could get electromotive force,
Which fact and reason both aver,
Has change of some kind as its source,
Out of a disk in swift rotation
Without the least acceleration.
But with your splendid roundabout
Of mighty power, new-hung and greasy,
With galvanometer so stout,
A new research would be as easy;
A test which might perchance disclose,
Which way the electric current flows.
Take then a coil of copper pure,
And fix it on your whirling table;
Place the electrodes firm and sure
As near the axis as you’re able,
And soon you’ll learn the way to work it,
With galvanometer in circuit.
Not while the coil in spinning sleeps,
On her smooth axle swift and steady;
But when against the stops she sweeps,
To watch the light-spot then be ready,
That you may learn from its deflexion
The electric current’s true direction.
It may be that it does not move,
Or moves but for some other reason;
Then let it be your boast to prove
(Though some may think it out of season,
And worthy of a fossil Druid),
That there is no Electric Fluid.
Scheme | ABABCC DADAEE FBFBGG EHEHII AJAJKK LCLCAA MAMABI NINIAA |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 010111 11011101 10111101 01010101 010111011 111101010 11110101 1111011 001111 11110111 111101010 1000100010 11111111 11001101 1101010 1101111 11111101 110111 11011100 1111 11010110 11111111 110101010 0101010 1111010 1101011010 1111 010111110 01110101 110010101 11011101 011111010 10010101 110101110 011101111 11010 11010101 101101010 11010111 110111110 1111111 0010101010 11111111 111111010 11111111 111111110 010101010 111101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,656 |
Words | 304 |
Sentences | 9 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 48 |
Letters per line (avg) | 28 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 166 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:31 min read
- 96 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Answer to Tait" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/20052/answer-to-tait>.
Discuss this James Clerk Maxwell poem analysis with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In