Bob the Fiddler
Oh! Bob the fiddler is the prideO' chaps an' maidens vur an' wide;They can't keep up a merry tide,But Bob is in the middle.If merry Bob do come avore ye,He'll zing a zong, or tell a story;But if you'd zee en in his glory,Jist let en have a fiddle.
Aye, let en tuck a crowd belowHis chin, an' gi'e his vist a bow,He'll dreve his elbow to an' fro',An' play what you do please.At Maypolen, or feaest, or feaeir,His eaerm wull zet off twenty peaeir,An' meaeke em dance the groun' dirt-beaere,An' hop about lik' vlees.
Long life to Bob! the very soulO' me'th at merry feaest an' pole;Vor when the crowd do leaeve his jowl,They'll all be in the dumps.Zoo at the dance another year,At Shillinston or Hazelbur',Mid Bob be there to meaeke em stir,In merry jigs, their stumps!
Words in this poem
- fiddler n.
- One who plays on a fiddle or violin. [AS. fi.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bob the Fiddler is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect, Project Gutenberg ebook #21785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Barnes, Bob the Fiddler, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect (1844–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/barnes-dorset/bob-the-fiddler.html, id L02050.
Form and metre
Bob the Fiddler is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AAAB-CCB prideA · wideA · tideA · middleB · ye · storyC · gloryC · fiddleB
- 2 AAABCCCB belowA · bowA · froA · pleaseB · feaeirC · peaeirC · beaereC · vleesB
- 3 AA-B---B soulA · poleA · jowl · dumpsB · year · hazelbur · stir · stumpsB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh! Bob the fiddler is the pride | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O' chaps an' maidens vur an' wide; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They can't keep up a merry tide, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But Bob is in the middle. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| If merry Bob do come avore ye, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| He'll zing a zong, or tell a story; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But if you'd zee en in his glory, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Jist let en have a fiddle. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Aye, let en tuck a crowd below | 8 | ········ |
| His chin, an' gi'e his vist a bow, | 8 | ········ |
| He'll dreve his elbow to an' fro', | 8 | ···/···· |
| An' play what you do please. | 6 | ······ |
| At Maypolen, or feaest, or feaeir, | 8 | ········ |
| His eaerm wull zet off twenty peaeir, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| An' meaeke em dance the groun' dirt-beaere, | 8 | ········ |
| An' hop about lik' vlees. | 6 | ······ |
| Long life to Bob! the very soul | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| O' me'th at merry feaest an' pole; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Vor when the crowd do leaeve his jowl, | 8 | ········ |
| They'll all be in the dumps. | 6 | ······ |
| Zoo at the dance another year, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| At Shillinston or Hazelbur', | 8 | ········ |
| Mid Bob be there to meaeke em stir, | 8 | ········ |
| In merry jigs, their stumps! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.