Analysis of Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station
Amy Lowell 1874 (Brookline) – 1925 (Brookline)
STUDY IN WHITES
Wax-white—
Floor, ceiling, walls.
Ivory shadows
Over the pavement
Polished to cream surfaces
By constant sweeping.
The big room is coloured like the petals
Of a great magnolia,
And has a patina
Of flower bloom
Which makes it shine dimly
Under the electric lamps.
Chairs are ranged in rows
Like sepia seeds
Waiting fulfilment.
The chalk-white spot of a cook’s cap
Moves unglossily against the vaguely bright wall—
Dull chalk-white striking the retina like a blow
Thru the wavering uncertainty of steam.
Vitreous-white of glasses with green reflections,
Ice-green carboys, shifting—greener, bluer—with the jar of moving water.
Jagged green-white bowls of pressed glass
Rearing snow-peaks of chipped sugar
Above the lighthouse-shaped castors
Of grey pepper and grey-white salt.
Grey-white placards: “Oyster Stew, Cornbeef Hash, Frankfurters”:
Marble slabs veined with words in meandering lines.
Dropping on the white counter like horn notes
Through a web of violins,
The flat yellow lights of oranges,
The cube-red splashes of apples,
In high plated épergnes.
The electric clock jerks every half-minute:
“Coming!—Past!”
“Three beef-steaks and a chicken-pie,”
Bawled through a slide while the clock jerks heavily.
A man carries a china mug of coffee to a distant chair.
Two rice puddings and a salmon salad
Are pushed over the counter;
The unfulfilled chairs open to receive them.
A spoon falls upon the floor with the impact of metal striking stone,
And the sound throws across the room
Sharp, invisible zigzags
Of silver.
Scheme | ABCDEFGHIIJKLDMBNOPQRSTSAUVWXYFHAZ1 2 K3 4 S5 6 J7 S |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1001 11 1101 1001 10010 1011100 11010 0111101010 101010 010010 1101 111110 1000101 11101 11001 101 01111011 110101011 111100100101 10100010011 100111011010 11110101010111010 1111111 10111110 010111 11100111 111010111100 101111001001 1010110111 1011001 011011100 01110110 01101 001011100110 101 11100101 11011011100 0110010111010101 1110001010 1110010 0011101011 01101011001110101 00110101 1010010 110 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,568 |
Words | 246 |
Sentences | 16 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 45 |
Lines Amount | 45 |
Letters per line (avg) | 27 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 1,235 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 241 |
Font size:
Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:13 min read
- 120 Views
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem analysis to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Thompson’s Lunch Room—Grand Central Station" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/2349/thompson%E2%80%99s-lunch-room%E2%80%94grand-central-station>.
Discuss this Amy Lowell 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