"My Betsey Rose Politely, and Showed Her Out-Of-Doors"
Since then I don't deny but there's been a word or two;But we've got our eyes wide open, and know just what to do:When one speaks cross the other just meets it with a laugh,And the first one's ready to give up considerable more than half.
Maybe you'll think me soft, Sir, a-talkin' in this style,But somehow it does me lots of good to tell it once in a while;And I do it for a compliment--'tis so that you can seeThat that there written agreement of yours was just the makin' of me.
So make out your bill, Mr. Lawyer: don't stop short of an X;Make it more if you want to, for I have got the checks.I'm richer than a National Bank, with all its treasures told,For I've got a wife at home now that's worth her weight in gold.
Words in this poem
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- 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.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"My Betsey Rose Politely, and Showed Her Out-Of-Doors" 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, "My Betsey Rose Politely, and Showed Her Out-Of-Doors", in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/my-betsey-rose-politely-and-showed-her-out-of-doors.html, id L23260.
Form and metre
"My Betsey Rose Politely, and Showed Her Out-Of-Doors" is 12 lines in 3 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 twoA · doA · laughB · halfB
- 2 AABB styleA · whileA · seeB · meB
- 3 AABB xA · checksA · toldB · goldB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Since then I don't deny but there's been a word or two; | 13 | ····˘/······· |
| But we've got our eyes wide open, and know just what to do: | 15 | ···/˘··/˘······ |
| When one speaks cross the other just meets it with a laugh, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And the first one's ready to give up considerable more than half. | 17 | ····/˘···˘/˘˘˘··· |
| Maybe you'll think me soft, Sir, a-talkin' in this style, | 13 | /˘······/˘··· |
| But somehow it does me lots of good to tell it once in a while; | 16 | ·/·············· |
| And I do it for a compliment--'tis so that you can see | 15 | ······/˘˘······ |
| That that there written agreement of yours was just the makin' of me. | 17 | ···/˘˘/˘·····/˘·· |
| So make out your bill, Mr. Lawyer: don't stop short of an X; | 15 | ·····/˘/˘······ |
| Make it more if you want to, for I have got the checks. | 13 | ············· |
| I'm richer than a National Bank, with all its treasures told, | 15 | ·/˘··/˘˘····/˘· |
| For I've got a wife at home now that's worth her weight in gold. | 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.