Laurel · Robert Bell · Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England

There Was an Old Man Came Over the Lea

Robert Bell (1800–1867) · 1857

anapaestic dimeter · rhyming couplets · 27 lines · from Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England

THERE was an old man came over the Lea,Ha-ha-ha-ha! but I won’t have him.He came over the Lea,A-courting to me,With his grey beard newly-shaven.

My mother she bid me open the door:I opened the door,And he fell on the floor.

My mother she bid me set him a stool:I set him a stool,And he looked like a fool.

My mother she bid me give him some beer:I gave him some beer,And he thought it good cheer.

My mother she bid me cut him some bread:I cut him some bread,And I threw’t at his head.

My mother she bid me light him to bed:I lit him to bed,And wished he were dead.

My mother she bid me tell him to rise:I told him to rise,And he opened his eyes.

My mother she bid me take him to church:I took him to church,And left him in the lurch;With his grey beard newly-shaven.

Words in this poem

lurch v. t.: To leave in the lurch; to cheat.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

There Was an Old Man Came Over the Lea 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, There Was an Old Man Came Over the Lea, 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/there-was-an-old-man-came-over-the-lea.html, id L12003.

Form and metre

There Was an Old Man Came Over the Lea is 27 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 59% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.

See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic dimeter.

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 A-AA- lea^A · him · lea^A · me^A · shaven
2 AAA door^A · door^A · floor^A
3 AAA stool^A · stool^A · fool^A
4 AAA beer^A · beer^A · cheer^A
5 AAA bread^A · bread^A · head^A
6 AAA bed^A · bed^A · dead^A
7 AAA rise^A · rise^A · eyes^A
8 AAA- church^A · church^A · lurch^A · shaven

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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
THERE was an old man came over the Lea,	9	·········
Ha-ha-ha-ha! but I won’t have him.	9	·········
He came over the Lea,	6	······
A-courting to me,	5	·/˘··
With his grey beard newly-shaven.	8	····/˘/˘
My mother she bid me open the door:	10	·/˘···/˘··
I opened the door,	5	·/˘··
And he fell on the floor.	6	······
My mother she bid me set him a stool:	10	·/˘·······
I set him a stool,	5	·····
And he looked like a fool.	7	···˘···
My mother she bid me give him some beer:	10	·/˘·······
I gave him some beer,	5	·····
And he thought it good cheer.	6	······
My mother she bid me cut him some bread:	10	·/˘·······
I cut him some bread,	5	·····
And I threw’t at his head.	6	······
My mother she bid me light him to bed:	10	·/˘·······
I lit him to bed,	5	·····
And wished he were dead.	5	·····
My mother she bid me tell him to rise:	10	·/˘·······
I told him to rise,	5	·····
And he opened his eyes.	7	··/˘˘··
My mother she bid me take him to church:	10	·/˘·······
I took him to church,	5	·····
And left him in the lurch;	6	······
With his grey beard newly-shaven.	8	····/˘/˘

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.

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Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England