"Right in There the Preacher, with Bible and Hymn-Book Stood"
"'Twixt the dead and the living," and "hoped 'twould do us good;"And the little whitewood coffin on the table there was set,And now as I rub my eyes it seems as if I could see it yet.
Then that fit of sickness it brought on you, you know;Just by a thread you hung, and you e'en-a'most let go;And here is the spot I tumbled, an' give the Lord his due,When the doctor said the fever'd turned, an' he could fetch you through.
Yes, a deal has happened to make this old house dear:Christenin's, funerals, weddin's--what haven't we had here?Not a log in this buildin' but its memories has got,And not a nail in this old floor but touches a tender spot.
Out of the old house, Nancy--moved up into the new;All the hurry and worry is just as good as through;But I tell you a thing right here, that I ain't ashamed to say,There's precious things in this old house we never can take away.
Here the old house will stand, but not as it stood before:Winds will whistle through it, and rains will flood the floor;And over the hearth, once blazing, the snow-drifts oft will pile,And the old thing will seem to be a-mournin' all the while.
Fare you well, old house! you're naught that can feel or see,But you seem like a human being--a dear old friend to me;And we never will have a better home, if my opinion stands,Until we commence a-keepin' house in the house not made with hands.
Words in this poem
- whitewood n.
- The soft and easily-worked wood of the tulip tree (Liriodendron). It is much used in cabinetwork, carriage building, etc.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"Right in There the Preacher, with Bible and Hymn-Book Stood" 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, "Right in There the Preacher, with Bible and Hymn-Book Stood", in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/right-in-there-the-preacher-with-bible-and-hymn-book-stood.html, id L23271.
Form and metre
"Right in There the Preacher, with Bible and Hymn-Book Stood" is 23 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 good · setA · yetA
- 2 AABB knowA · goA · dueB · throughB
- 3 AABB dearA · hereA · gotB · spotB
- 4 AABB newA · throughA · sayB · awayB
- 5 AABB beforeA · floorA · pileB · whileB
- 6 AABB seeA · meA · standsB · handsB
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "'Twixt the dead and the living," and "hoped 'twould do us good;" | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And the little whitewood coffin on the table there was set, | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| And now as I rub my eyes it seems as if I could see it yet. | 16 | ················ |
| Then that fit of sickness it brought on you, you know; | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Just by a thread you hung, and you e'en-a'most let go; | 13 | ············· |
| And here is the spot I tumbled, an' give the Lord his due, | 14 | ······/˘······ |
| When the doctor said the fever'd turned, an' he could fetch you through. | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| Yes, a deal has happened to make this old house dear: | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Christenin's, funerals, weddin's--what haven't we had here? | 14 | ···/˘˘···/˘··· |
| Not a log in this buildin' but its memories has got, | 14 | ·········/˘˘·· |
| And not a nail in this old floor but touches a tender spot. | 15 | ·········/˘·/˘· |
| Out of the old house, Nancy--moved up into the new; | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| All the hurry and worry is just as good as through; | 13 | ··/˘·/˘······ |
| But I tell you a thing right here, that I ain't ashamed to say, | 15 | ···········˘/·· |
| There's precious things in this old house we never can take away. | 15 | ·/˘······/˘··˘/ |
| Here the old house will stand, but not as it stood before: | 13 | ············· |
| Winds will whistle through it, and rains will flood the floor; | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| And over the hearth, once blazing, the snow-drifts oft will pile, | 14 | ······/˘······ |
| And the old thing will seem to be a-mournin' all the while. | 14 | ·············· |
| Fare you well, old house! you're naught that can feel or see, | 12 | ············ |
| But you seem like a human being--a dear old friend to me; | 15 | ·····/˘/˘······ |
| And we never will have a better home, if my opinion stands, | 16 | ··/˘···/˘···˘/˘· |
| Until we commence a-keepin' house in the house not made with hands. | 16 | ···˘/··········· |
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.