John
Well, now, if this ain't a joke, with rather a bitter cream!It seems as if I'd woke from a mighty ticklish dream;And I think she "smells a rat," for she smiles at me so queer;I hope she don't; good Lord! I hope that they didn't hear!
'Twas one of her practical drives--she thought I'd understand!But I'll never break sod again till I get the lay of the land.But one thing's settled with me--to appreciate heaven well,'Tis good for a man to have some fifteen minutes of hell.
Words in this poem
- appreciate v. t.
- To set a price or value on; to estimate justly; to value. [L. appretiatus, p. p. of appretiare to value at a price, appraise; ad + pretiare to prize, pretium price. Cf. Appraise.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
John 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, John, in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/john-2.html, id L23264.
Form and metre
John is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB.
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 AABB creamA · dreamA · queerB · hearB
- 2 AABB understandA · landA · wellB · hellB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Well, now, if this ain't a joke, with rather a bitter cream! | 14 | ········/˘·/˘· |
| It seems as if I'd woke from a mighty ticklish dream; | 14 | ········/˘/˘˘· |
| And I think she "smells a rat," for she smiles at me so queer; | 14 | ·············· |
| I hope she don't; good Lord! I hope that they didn't hear! | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| 'Twas one of her practical drives--she thought I'd understand! | 14 | ····/˘˘·····˘/ |
| But I'll never break sod again till I get the lay of the land. | 15 | ··/··˘/········ |
| But one thing's settled with me--to appreciate heaven well, | 14 | ···/˘···˘/˘·/· |
| 'Tis good for a man to have some fifteen minutes of hell. | 14 | ········///˘·· |
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.