One and Two
If you to me be cold,Or I be false to you,The world will go on, I think,Just as it used to do;The clouds will flirt with the moon,The sun will kiss the sea,The wind to the trees will whisper,And laugh at you and me;But the sun will not shine so bright,The clouds will not seem so white,To one, as they will to two;So I think you had better be kind,And I had best be true,And let the old love go on,Just as it used to do.
If the whole of a page be read,If a book be finished through,Still the world may read on, I think,Just as it used to do;For other lovers will conThe pages that we have passed,And the treacherous gold of the bindingWill glitter unto the last.But lids have a lonely look,And one may not read the book--It opens only to two;So I think you had better be kind,And I had best be true,And let the reading go on,Just as it used to do.
If we who have sailed togetherFlit out of each other's view,The world will sail on, I think,Just as it used to do;And we may reckon by starsThat flash from different skies,And another of love's piratesMay capture my lost prize;But ships long time togetherCan better the tempest weatherThan any other two;So I think you had better be kind,And I had best be true,That we together may sail,Just as we used to do.
Words in this poem
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
One and Two 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, One and Two, in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/one-and-two.html, id L23285.
Form and metre
One and Two is 45 lines in 3 stanzas of 15 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 -A-A-B-BCCA-A-A cold · youA · think · doA · moon · seaB · whisper · meB · brightC · whiteC · twoA · kind · trueA · on · doA
- 2 -A-ABC-CDDA-ABA read · throughA · think · doA · conB · passedC · binding · lastC · lookD · bookD · twoA · kind · trueA · onB · doA
- 3 AB-B-C-CAAB-B-B togetherA · viewB · think · doB · stars · skiesC · pirates · prizeC · togetherA · weatherA · twoB · kind · trueB · sail · doB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If you to me be cold, | 6 | ······ |
| Or I be false to you, | 6 | ······ |
| The world will go on, I think, | 7 | ······· |
| Just as it used to do; | 6 | ······ |
| The clouds will flirt with the moon, | 7 | ······· |
| The sun will kiss the sea, | 6 | ······ |
| The wind to the trees will whisper, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And laugh at you and me; | 6 | ······ |
| But the sun will not shine so bright, | 8 | ········ |
| The clouds will not seem so white, | 7 | ······· |
| To one, as they will to two; | 7 | ······· |
| So I think you had better be kind, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And I had best be true, | 6 | ······ |
| And let the old love go on, | 7 | ······· |
| Just as it used to do. | 6 | ······ |
| If the whole of a page be read, | 8 | ········ |
| If a book be finished through, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Still the world may read on, I think, | 8 | ········ |
| Just as it used to do; | 6 | ······ |
| For other lovers will con | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| The pages that we have passed, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And the treacherous gold of the binding | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Will glitter unto the last. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But lids have a lonely look, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And one may not read the book-- | 7 | ······· |
| It opens only to two; | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| So I think you had better be kind, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And I had best be true, | 6 | ······ |
| And let the reading go on, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Just as it used to do. | 6 | ······ |
| If we who have sailed together | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Flit out of each other's view, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The world will sail on, I think, | 7 | ······· |
| Just as it used to do; | 6 | ······ |
| And we may reckon by stars | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| That flash from different skies, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And another of love's pirates | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| May capture my lost prize; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But ships long time together | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Can better the tempest weather | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Than any other two; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| So I think you had better be kind, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And I had best be true, | 6 | ······ |
| That we together may sail, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Just as we used to do. | 6 | ······ |
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.