Polysemy.

1. Drum (line 1)

1) a percussion instrument consisting of a hollow shell or cylinder with a drumhead stretched over one or both ends that is beaten with the hands or with some implement (as a stick or wire brush)

2) the sound of a drum; also : a sound similar to that of a drum

3) any of various chiefly marine bony fishes (family Sciaenidae) that make a drumming or croaking noise using their air bladder and associated muscles

4) something resembling a drum in shape: as

a : a round wall or structure that supports a dome

b : a cylindrical machine or mechanical device or part

c : a cylindrical container; specifically : a large usually metal container for liquids <a 55-gallon drum>

d : a disk-shaped magazine for an automatic weapon

2. Door (line 2)

1) a usually swinging or sliding barrier by which an entry is closed and opened; also : a similar part of a piece of furniture

2) doorway, an entrance into a building or room

3) a means of access or participation : opportunity (opens new doors, door to success)

Motivation.

Phonetical motivation:

Drums (line 1)([d]+[r] give a direct imitation of the sounds this word denotes)

Whirr (line 7)(double [r] gives a direct imitation of the sound this word denotes)

Rumble (line 9) (first a sound [r] and then a combination of [m], [b] and [l])

Weeper (line 17) (long [i:] after [w])

Morphological motivation:

Ruthless (line 2) (ruth+less)

Congregation (line 3) (congregate+ tion)

scholar (line 4), farmer(line 6), sleepers (line 10), bargainers (line 11) (+ar; er) turns to an agent of activity

peaceful (line 6) (peace+ful)

ploughing (line 6), gathering (line 6), awaiting (line 20) (+ing - participles)

Lost morphological motivation:

Attempt (line 12) (from Latin attemptare, from ad- + temptare to touch)

Semantic motivation:

Make parley (line 16) (вести переговоры)

Lexical and grammatical meanings.

According to the book A Practical Course in English Lexicology by I. Zykova three types ofmeaning exist: the grammatical meaning, the lexical meaning and lexico-grammatical meaning (or part-of-speech meaning). Also three aspects of lexical meaning can be singled out, they are the denotational aspect, the connotational aspect and the pragmatic aspect. Let us analyze the nouns used in the poem.

For instance, the grammatical meaning of the nouns drums(line 1), bugles(line 2), windows(line 2), doors(line 2), cities(line 9), wheels(line 9), streets(line 9), beds(line 10), sleepers(line 10), houses(line 10), bargains(line 11), speculators(line 11), brokers(line 11), talkers(line 12), entreaties(line 10), trestles(line20), hearses(line 20) is the meaning of plurality, which is found in the word-forms of nouns drum, bugle, window, door and so on.

Moreover, another grammatical meaning of words sleepers(line 10), speculators(line 11), brokers(line11), talkers(line 12) is one of the agent of activity.

The lexical meaning of the noun bugle (line 1)and all of its forms is “a valveless brass instrument that resembles a trumpet and is used especially for military calls”

Denotational aspect of the noun trestle (line 20)– “a braced frame serving as a support”, connotational – usually “a braced framework of timbers, piles, or steelwork for carrying a road or railroad over a depression”.