The Spinner
Oh, what was it he meantBy his question as he went?"I am making a loom,'T will be up in April's bloom;If you think it may be,Spin for me!"
Oh, what shall I believe?Does he think himself to weave?And the yarn that I spin,Lo, he thinks to weave it in?And so soon as the SpringFlowers shall bring?
And he laughed when he'd done;Oh, he is so full of fun.Dare I trust all my skeinTo so young and wild a swain?--May God help to bind inAll I spin!
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Spinner is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, The Spinner, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/the-spinner.html, id L29291.
Form and metre
The Spinner is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCC. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABBCC meantA · wentA · loomB · bloomB · beC · meC
- 2 AABBCC believeA · weaveA · spinB · inB · springC · bringC
- 3 AABBCC doneA · funA · skeinB · swainB · inC · spinC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, what was it he meant | 6 | ······ |
| By his question as he went? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "I am making a loom, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| 'T will be up in April's bloom; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If you think it may be, | 6 | ······ |
| Spin for me!" | 3 | ··· |
| Oh, what shall I believe? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Does he think himself to weave? | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| And the yarn that I spin, | 6 | ······ |
| Lo, he thinks to weave it in? | 7 | ······· |
| And so soon as the Spring | 6 | ······ |
| Flowers shall bring? | 4 | /˘·· |
| And he laughed when he'd done; | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, he is so full of fun. | 7 | ······· |
| Dare I trust all my skein | 6 | ······ |
| To so young and wild a swain?-- | 7 | ······· |
| May God help to bind in | 6 | ······ |
| All I spin! | 3 | ··· |
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.