Johnny Rich
Raise the light a little, Jim,For it's getting rather dim,And, with such a storm a-howlin', 'twill not do to douse the glim.Hustle down the curtains, Lu;Poke the fire a little, Su;This is somethin' of a flurry, mother, somethin' of a--whew!
Goodness gracious, how it pours!How it beats ag'in the doors!You will have a hard one, Jimmy, when you go to do the chores!Do not overfeed the gray;Give a plenty to the bay;And be careful with your lantern when you go among the hay.
See the horses have a bedWhen you've got 'em fairly fed;Feed the cows that's in the stable, and the sheep that's in the shed;Give the spotted cow some meal,Where the brindle can not steal;For she's greedy as a porker, and as slipp'ry as an eel.
Hang your lantern by the ring,On a nail, or on a string;For the Durham calf 'll bunt it, if there's any such a thing:He's a handsome one to see,And a knowin' one is he:I stooped over t'other morning, and he up and went for me!
Rover thinks he hears a noise!Just keep still a minute, boys;Nellie, hold your tongue a second, and be silent with your toys.Stop that barkin', now, you whelp,Or I'll kick you till you yelp!Yes, I hear it; 'tis somebody that's callin' out for help.
Get the lantern, Jim and Tom;Mother, keep the babies calm,And we'll follow up that halloa, and we'll see where it is from.'Tis a hairy sort of night
Words in this poem 15
- 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.]
- glim n.
- Brightness; splendor.
- hustle v. t.
- To shake together in confusion; to push, jostle, or crowd rudely; to handle roughly; as, to hustle a person out of a room. [D. hustelen to shake, fr. husten to shake. Cf. Hotchpotch.]
- flurry n.
- A sudden and brief blast or gust; a light, temporary breeze; as, a flurry of wind. [Prov. E. flur to ruffle.]
- jimmy n.
- A short crowbar used by burglars in breaking open doors. [Cf. Jemmy.]
- overfeed v. t.
- To feed to excess; to surfeit.
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- brindle n.
- The state of being brindled. [See Brindled.]
- durham n.
- One or a breed of short-horned cattle, originating in the county of Durham, England. The Durham cattle are noted for their beef-producing quality.
- bunt n.
- A fungus (Ustilago foetida) which affects the ear of cereals, filling the grains with a fetid dust; -- also called pepperbrand.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- rover n.
- One who practices robbery on the seas; a pirate. [D. roover a robber. See Rove, v. i.]
- whelp n.
- One of the young of a dog or a beast of prey; a puppy; a cub; as, a lion's whelps. [AS. hwelp; akin to D. welp, G. & OHG. welf, Icel. hvelpr, Dan. hvalp, Sw. valp.]
- yelp n.
- A sharp, quick cry; a bark.
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Johnny Rich 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, Johnny Rich, in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/johnny-rich.html, id L23265.
Form and metre
Johnny Rich is 34 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AAABBB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in trochaic 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-BBB jimA · dimA · glim · luB · suB · whewB
- 2 AAABBB poursA · doorsA · choresA · grayB · bayB · hayB
- 3 AAABBB bedA · fedA · shedA · mealB · stealB · eelB
- 4 AAABBB ringA · stringA · thingA · seeB · heB · meB
- 5 AAABBB noiseA · boysA · toysA · whelpB · yelpB · helpB
- 6 AA-- tomA · calmA · from · night
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Raise the light a little, Jim, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For it's getting rather dim, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And, with such a storm a-howlin', 'twill not do to douse the glim. | 15 | ··············· |
| Hustle down the curtains, Lu; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Poke the fire a little, Su; | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| This is somethin' of a flurry, mother, somethin' of a--whew! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Goodness gracious, how it pours! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| How it beats ag'in the doors! | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| You will have a hard one, Jimmy, when you go to do the chores! | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Do not overfeed the gray; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Give a plenty to the bay; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And be careful with your lantern when you go among the hay. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| See the horses have a bed | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| When you've got 'em fairly fed; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Feed the cows that's in the stable, and the sheep that's in the shed; | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| Give the spotted cow some meal, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where the brindle can not steal; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For she's greedy as a porker, and as slipp'ry as an eel. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| Hang your lantern by the ring, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| On a nail, or on a string; | 7 | ······· |
| For the Durham calf 'll bunt it, if there's any such a thing: | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| He's a handsome one to see, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And a knowin' one is he: | 7 | ······· |
| I stooped over t'other morning, and he up and went for me! | 15 | ···˘/˘/˘······· |
| Rover thinks he hears a noise! | 7 | /˘····· |
| Just keep still a minute, boys; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Nellie, hold your tongue a second, and be silent with your toys. | 15 | /˘····/˘··/˘··· |
| Stop that barkin', now, you whelp, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Or I'll kick you till you yelp! | 7 | ······· |
| Yes, I hear it; 'tis somebody that's callin' out for help. | 14 | ·····/˘˘······ |
| Get the lantern, Jim and Tom; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Mother, keep the babies calm, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And we'll follow up that halloa, and we'll see where it is from. | 15 | ··/˘··˘/······· |
| 'Tis a hairy sort of night | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.