Jockey to the Fair
’TWAS on the morn of sweet May-day,When nature painted all things gay,Taught birds to sing, and lambs to play,And gild the meadows fair;Young Jockey, early in the dawn,Arose and tripped it o’er the lawn;His Sunday clothes the youth put on,For Jenny had vowed away to runWith Jockey to the fair;For Jenny had vowed, &c.
The cheerful parish bells had rung,With eager steps he trudged along,While flowery garlands round him hung,Which shepherds use to wear;He tapped the window; ‘Haste, my dear!’Jenny impatient cried, ‘Who’s there?’‘’Tis I, my love, and no one near;Step gently down, you’ve nought to fear,With Jockey to the fair.’Step gently down, &c.
‘My dad and mam are fast asleep,My brother’s up, and with the sheep;And will you still your promise keep,Which I have heard you swear?And will you ever constant prove?’‘I will, by all the powers above,And ne’er deceive my charming dove;Dispel these doubts, and haste, my love,With Jockey to the fair.’Dispel, &c.
‘Behold, the ring,’ the shepherd cried;‘Will Jenny be my charming bride?Let Cupid be our happy guide,And Hymen meet us there.’Then Jockey did his vows renew;He would be constant, would he true,His word was pledged; away she flew,O’er cowslips tipped with balmy dew,With Jockey to the fair.O’er cowslips, &c.
In raptures meet the joyful throng;Their gay companions, blithe and young,Each join the dance, each raise the song,To hail the happy pair.In turns there’s none so loud as they,They bless the kind propitious day,The smiling morn of blooming May,When lovely Jenny ran awayWith Jockey to the fair.When lovely, &c.
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- jenny n.
- A familiar or pet form of the proper name Jane.
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- dispel v. t.
- To drive away by scattering, or so to cause to vanish; to clear away; to banish; to dissipate; as, to dispel a cloud, vapors, cares, doubts, illusions. [L. dispellere; dis- + pellere to push, drive. See Pulse a beating.]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- hymen n.
- A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Jockey to the Fair is in the public domain. This text is taken from Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England, Project Gutenberg ebook #649; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bell, Jockey to the Fair, in Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #649, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bell-ancient-poems/jockey-to-the-fair.html, id L12010.
Form and metre
Jockey to the Fair is 50 lines in 5 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables.
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 AAABCCC-B- dayA · gayA · playA · fairB · dawnC · lawnC · onC · run · fairB · —
- 2 A-ABCBCCB- rungA · along · hungA · wearB · dearC · thereB · nearC · fearC · fairB · —
- 3 AAABCCCCB- asleepA · sheepA · keepA · swearB · proveC · aboveC · doveC · loveC · fairB · —
- 4 AAABCCCCB- criedA · brideA · guideA · thereB · renewC · trueC · flewC · dewC · fairB · —
- 5 A-ABCCCCB- throngA · young · songA · pairB · theyC · dayC · mayC · awayC · fairB · —
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ’TWAS on the morn of sweet May-day, | 8 | ········ |
| When nature painted all things gay, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Taught birds to sing, and lambs to play, | 8 | ········ |
| And gild the meadows fair; | 6 | ···/·· |
| Young Jockey, early in the dawn, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Arose and tripped it o’er the lawn; | 8 | ˘/······ |
| His Sunday clothes the youth put on, | 8 | ·/······ |
| For Jenny had vowed away to run | 9 | ·/˘··˘/·· |
| With Jockey to the fair; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For Jenny had vowed, &c. | 7 | ·/˘··˘· |
| The cheerful parish bells had rung, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With eager steps he trudged along, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| While flowery garlands round him hung, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Which shepherds use to wear; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He tapped the window; ‘Haste, my dear!’ | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Jenny impatient cried, ‘Who’s there?’ | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| ‘’Tis I, my love, and no one near; | 8 | ········ |
| Step gently down, you’ve nought to fear, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With Jockey to the fair.’ | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Step gently down, &c. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| ‘My dad and mam are fast asleep, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My brother’s up, and with the sheep; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And will you still your promise keep, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which I have heard you swear? | 6 | ······ |
| And will you ever constant prove?’ | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| ‘I will, by all the powers above, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And ne’er deceive my charming dove; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Dispel these doubts, and haste, my love, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| With Jockey to the fair.’ | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Dispel, &c. | 3 | ˘/· |
| ‘Behold, the ring,’ the shepherd cried; | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| ‘Will Jenny be my charming bride? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Let Cupid be our happy guide, | 8 | ·/˘·//˘· |
| And Hymen meet us there.’ | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Then Jockey did his vows renew; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| He would be constant, would he true, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His word was pledged; away she flew, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| O’er cowslips tipped with balmy dew, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With Jockey to the fair. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O’er cowslips, &c. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In raptures meet the joyful throng; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Their gay companions, blithe and young, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Each join the dance, each raise the song, | 8 | ········ |
| To hail the happy pair. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In turns there’s none so loud as they, | 8 | ········ |
| They bless the kind propitious day, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The smiling morn of blooming May, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When lovely Jenny ran away | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| With Jockey to the fair. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When lovely, &c. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.