"And You Lie There, Quite Resigned, Whisky Deaf, and Whisky Blind"
Whisky deaf, and whisky blind,And it will not hurt your feelin's, so I guess I'll free my mind.
Do you mind, you thievin' dunce,How you robbed my orchard once,Takin' all the biggest apples, leavin' all the littlest runts?Do you mind my melon-patch--How you gobbled the whole batch,Stacked the vines, and sliced the greenest melons, just to raise thescratch?
Do you think, you drunken wag,It was any thing to brag,To be cornered in my hen-roost, with two pullets in a bag?You are used to dirty dens;You have often slept in pens;I've a mind to take you out there now, and roost you with the hens!
Do you call to mind with meHow, one night, you and your threeTook my wagon all to pieces for to hang it on a tree?How you hung it up, you eels,Straight and steady, by the wheels?I've a mind to take you out there now, and hang you by your heels!
How, the Fourth of last July,When you got a little high,You went back to Wilson's counter when you thought he wasn't nigh?How he heard some specie chink,And was on you in a wink,And you promised if he'd hush it that you never more would drink?
Do you mind our temperance hall?How you're always sure to call,And recount your reformation with the biggest speech of all?How you talk, and how you sing,That the pledge is just the thing--How you sign it every winter, and then smash it every spring?
Do you mind how Jennie GreenWas as happy as a queenWhen you walked with her on Sunday, looking sober, straight, and clean?
How she cried out half her sight,When you staggered by, next night,Twice as dirty as a serpent, and a hundred times as tight?
How our hearts with pleasure warmedWhen your mother, though it stormed.Run up here one day to tell us that you truly had reformed?How that very self-same day,When upon her homeward way,She run on you, where you'd hidden, full three-quarters o'er the bay?
Oh, you little whisky-keg!Oh, you horrid little egg!You're goin' to destruction with your swiftest foot and leg!I've a mind to take you outUnderneath the water-spout,Just to rinse you up a little, so you'll know what you're about!
But you've got a handsome eye,And, although I can't tell why,Somethin' somewhere in you always lets you get another try:So, for all that I have said,I'll not douse you; but, instead,I will strip you, I will rub you, I will put you into bed!
Words in this poem
- biggest a.
- , superl. of Big.
- batch n.
- The quantity of bread baked at one time. [OE. bache, bacche, fr. AS. bacan to bake; cf. G. gebäck and D. baksel. See Bake, v. t.]
- cornered p. a.
- 1 Having corners or angles.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- smash v. t.
- To break in pieces by violence; to dash to pieces; to crush. [Cf. Sw. smisk a blow, stroke, smiska to strike, dial. Sw. smaske to kiss with a noise, and E. smack a loud kiss, a slap.]
- homeward a.
- Being in the direction of home; as, the homeward way.
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- rinse v. t.
- To wash lightly; to cleanse with a second or repeated application of water after washing. [OE., fr. OF. rincer, rimser, reinser, raïncier, F. rincer; of uncertain origin.]
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
- douse v. t.
- To plunge suddenly into water; to duck; to immerse; to dowse. Bp. [Cf. Dowse, and OD. donsen to strike with the fist on the back, Sw. dunsa to fall down violently and noisily; perh. akin to E. din.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"And You Lie There, Quite Resigned, Whisky Deaf, and Whisky Blind" 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 You Lie There, Quite Resigned, Whisky Deaf, and Whisky Blind", in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/and-you-lie-there-quite-resigned-whisky-deaf-and-whisky-blin.html, id L23267.
Form and metre
"And You Lie There, Quite Resigned, Whisky Deaf, and Whisky Blind" is 57 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AAABBB, complete in 7 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 AA blindA · mindA
- 2 ---AA-A dunce · once · runts · patchA · batchA · the · scratchA
- 3 AAABBB wagA · bragA · bagA · densB · pensB · hensB
- 4 AAABBB meA · threeA · treeA · eelsB · wheelsB · heelsB
- 5 AAABBB julyA · highA · nighA · chinkB · winkB · drinkB
- 6 AAABBB hallA · callA · allA · singB · thingB · springB
- 7 AAA greenA · queenA · cleanA
- 8 AAA sightA · nightA · tightA
- 9 AAABBB warmedA · stormedA · reformedA · dayB · wayB · bayB
- 10 AAABBB kegA · eggA · legA · outB · spoutB · aboutB
- 11 AAABBB eyeA · whyA · tryA · saidB · insteadB · bedB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whisky deaf, and whisky blind, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And it will not hurt your feelin's, so I guess I'll free my mind. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Do you mind, you thievin' dunce, | 7 | ······· |
| How you robbed my orchard once, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Takin' all the biggest apples, leavin' all the littlest runts? | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Do you mind my melon-patch-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| How you gobbled the whole batch, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Stacked the vines, and sliced the greenest melons, just to raise the | 14 | ······/˘/˘···· |
| scratch? | 1 | · |
| Do you think, you drunken wag, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| It was any thing to brag, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To be cornered in my hen-roost, with two pullets in a bag? | 15 | ··/˘··········· |
| You are used to dirty dens; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You have often slept in pens; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I've a mind to take you out there now, and roost you with the hens! | 15 | ··············· |
| Do you call to mind with me | 7 | ······· |
| How, one night, you and your three | 7 | ······· |
| Took my wagon all to pieces for to hang it on a tree? | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| How you hung it up, you eels, | 7 | ······· |
| Straight and steady, by the wheels? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I've a mind to take you out there now, and hang you by your heels! | 15 | ··············· |
| How, the Fourth of last July, | 7 | ······/ |
| When you got a little high, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| You went back to Wilson's counter when you thought he wasn't nigh? | 14 | ····/˘/····/˘· |
| How he heard some specie chink, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| And was on you in a wink, | 7 | ······· |
| And you promised if he'd hush it that you never more would drink? | 14 | ··/˘······/··· |
| Do you mind our temperance hall? | 7 | ···//˘· |
| How you're always sure to call, | 7 | ··/···· |
| And recount your reformation with the biggest speech of all? | 15 | ·˘/··˘/˘··/˘··· |
| How you talk, and how you sing, | 7 | ······· |
| That the pledge is just the thing-- | 7 | ······· |
| How you sign it every winter, and then smash it every spring? | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Do you mind how Jennie Green | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Was as happy as a queen | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When you walked with her on Sunday, looking sober, straight, and clean? | 15 | ······/·/˘/˘··· |
| How she cried out half her sight, | 7 | ······· |
| When you staggered by, next night, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Twice as dirty as a serpent, and a hundred times as tight? | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| How our hearts with pleasure warmed | 7 | ·/··/˘· |
| When your mother, though it stormed. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Run up here one day to tell us that you truly had reformed? | 15 | ··········/˘·˘/ |
| How that very self-same day, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When upon her homeward way, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| She run on you, where you'd hidden, full three-quarters o'er the bay? | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Oh, you little whisky-keg! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Oh, you horrid little egg! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| You're goin' to destruction with your swiftest foot and leg! | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘··· |
| I've a mind to take you out | 7 | ······· |
| Underneath the water-spout, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Just to rinse you up a little, so you'll know what you're about! | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| But you've got a handsome eye, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And, although I can't tell why, | 7 | ······· |
| Somethin' somewhere in you always lets you get another try: | 15 | /˘/···/····˘/˘· |
| So, for all that I have said, | 7 | ······· |
| I'll not douse you; but, instead, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| I will strip you, I will rub you, I will put you into bed! | 15 | ··············· |
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.