"And Just as I Turned a Hill-Top I See the Kitchen Light"
Which often a han'some pictur' to a hungry person makes,But it don't interest a feller much that's goin' to pull up stakes.
And when I went in the house the table was set for me--As good a supper's I ever saw, or ever want to see;And I crammed the agreement down my pocket as well as I could,And fell to eatin' my victuals, which somehow didn't taste good.
And Betsey, she pretended to look about the house,But she watched my side coat pocket like a cat would watch a mouse:And then she went to foolin' a little with her cup,And intently readin' a newspaper, a-holdin' it wrong side up.
Words in this poem
- feller n.
- One who, or that which, fells, knocks or cuts down; a machine for felling trees.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- intently adv.
- In an intent manner; as, the eyes intently fixed.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"And Just as I Turned a Hill-Top I See the Kitchen Light" is in the public domain. This text is taken from Farm Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #9500; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Will Carleton, "And Just as I Turned a Hill-Top I See the Kitchen Light", in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/and-just-as-i-turned-a-hill-top-i-see-the-kitchen-light.html, id L23257.
Form and metre
"And Just as I Turned a Hill-Top I See the Kitchen Light" is 10 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AA makesA · stakesA
- 2 AABB meA · seeA · couldB · goodB
- 3 AABB houseA · mouseA · cupB · upB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Which often a han'some pictur' to a hungry person makes, | 15 | ·/˘·······/˘/˘· |
| But it don't interest a feller much that's goin' to pull up stakes. | 16 | ···/˘·/˘··/˘···· |
| And when I went in the house the table was set for me-- | 14 | ········/˘···· |
| As good a supper's I ever saw, or ever want to see; | 15 | ···/˘·/˘··/˘··· |
| And I crammed the agreement down my pocket as well as I could, | 16 | ····˘/˘··/˘····· |
| And fell to eatin' my victuals, which somehow didn't taste good. | 15 | ······/˘·/·/˘·· |
| And Betsey, she pretended to look about the house, | 13 | ·/˘·˘/˘······ |
| But she watched my side coat pocket like a cat would watch a mouse: | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| And then she went to foolin' a little with her cup, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| And intently readin' a newspaper, a-holdin' it wrong side up. | 17 | ·˘/˘···/·˘······· |
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.