After The German. A Sophomore Soliloquy.

George Augustus Baker Jr 1849 ( New York City, New York) – 1906 ( New York City, New York)



Blackboard, with ruler and rubber before me,
Chalk loosely held in my hand,
Sun-gilded motes in the air all around me,
Listlessly dreaming I stand.
  
What do I care for the problem I've written
In characters gracefully slight,
As the festal-robed beauties whose fairy feet flitted
Through the maze of the German last night!
  
What do I care for the lever of friction,
For sine, or co-ordinate plane,
When fairy musicians are playing the "Mabel,"
And waltzes each nerve in my brain!
  
On my coat's powdered chalk, not the dust of the diamond
That only last night sparkled there,
By the galop's wild whirl shower'd down on my shoulder
From turbulent tresses of hair.
  
In my ear is the clatter of chalk against blackboard,
Not music's voluptuous swell;
Alas! this is life, so pass mortal pleasures,
And, thank goodness, there goes the bell!
  
Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on August 03, 2020

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
3

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDBD CEXE XFXF XGXG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 825
Words 148
Stanzas 5
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4

George Augustus Baker Jr

John F. Kensett, 1875 John F. Kensett, 1875 George Augustus Baker Jr (1821 – 1880) The son of a miniaturist, George Baker, Jr. grew up in New York City. Following his father’s example, he became a painter of miniatures on ivory, and becoming almost instantly successful, by the time he was sixteen, he had completed 150 miniatures and sold them for $5.00 a piece. For seven years, he supported himself this way while attending the National Academy of Design. From 1844-46, he studied in Europe and then established a portrait studio in New York. Women and children were his primary subjects. He also did portraits of painters John Frederick Kensett, a close friend, and Charles Loring Elliot, whom he greatly admired. He lived the last fourteen years of his life in Darien, Connecticut where he actively pursued his painting career but kept a studio in New York City. more…

All George Augustus Baker Jr poems | George Augustus Baker Jr Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem After The German. A Sophomore Soliloquy. with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "After The German. A Sophomore Soliloquy." Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/55333/after-the-german.-a-sophomore-soliloquy.>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    22
    hours
    52
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem "Ozymandias"?
    A Percy Bysshe Shelley
    B William Wordsworth
    C Rainer Maria Rilke
    D Rudyard Kipling