Mr. Moon: A Song of the Little People
O Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?Down on the hilltop,Down in the glen,Out in the clearin',To play with little men?Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,Hurry up your stumps!Don't you hear BullfrogCallin' to his wife,And old black CricketA-wheezin' at his fife?Hurry up your stumps,And get on your pumps!Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,Hurry up along!The reeds in the currentAre whisperin' slow;The river's a-wimplin'To and fro.Or you'll miss the song!Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,We're all here!Honey-bug, Thistledrift,White-imp, Weird,Wryface, Billiken,Quidnunc, Queered;We're all here,And the coast is clear!Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,We're the little men!Dewlap, Pussymouse,Ferntip, Freak,Drink-again, Shambler,Talkytalk, Squeak;Three times tenOf us little men!Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,We're all ready!Tallenough, Squaretoes,Amble, Tip,Buddybud, Heigho,Little black Pip;We're all ready,And the wind walks steady!Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,We're thirty score;Yellowbeard, Piper,Lieabed, Toots,Meadowbee, Moonboy,Bully-in-boots;Three times moreThan thirty score.Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,Keep your eye peeled;Watch out to windward,Or you'll miss the fun,Down by the acreWhere the wheat-waves run;Keep your eye peeledFor the open field.Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,There's not much time!Hurry, if you're comin',You lazy old bones!You can sleep to-morrowWhile the Buzbuz drones;There's not much timeTill the church bells chime.Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Mr. Moon,Just see the clover!Soon we'll be goingWhere the Gray Goose wentWhen all her moneyWas spent, spent, spent!Down through the clover,When the revel's over!Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
O Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?Down where the Good FolkDance in a ring,Down where the Little FolkSing?Moon, Mr. Moon,When you comin' down?
Words in this poem
- hilltop n.
- The top of a hill.
- bullfrog n.
- A very large species of frog (Rana Catesbiana), found in North America; -- so named from its loud bellowing in spring.
- quidnunc n.
- One who is curious to know everything that passes; one who knows, or pretends to know, all that is going on. [L., what now]
- dewlap n.
- The pendulous skin under the neck of an ox, which laps or licks the dew in grazing. [Dew + lap to lick.]
- squeak v. i.
- To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqväka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle.]
- amble v. i.
- To go at the easy gait called an amble; -- applied to the horse or to its rider. [F. ambler to amble, fr. L. ambulare to walk, in LL., to amble, perh. fr. amb-, ambi-, and a root meaning to go: cf. Gr. base. Cf. Ambulate.]
- acre n.
- Any field of arable or pasture land. [OE. aker, AS. æcer; akin to OS. accar, OHG. achar, Ger. acker, Icel. akr, Sw. åker, Dan. ager, Goth. akrs, L. ager, Gr. ajra. *2, 206.]
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mr. Moon: A Song of the Little People is in the public domain. This text is taken from More Songs From Vagabondia, Project Gutenberg ebook #18007; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bliss Carman, Mr. Moon: A Song of the Little People, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/mr-moon-a-song-of-the-little-people.html, id L24732.
Form and metre
Mr. Moon: A Song of the Little People is 105 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AB-C-CAB moonA · downB · hilltop · glenC · clearin · menC · moonA · downB
- 2 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · stumpsB · bullfrog · wifeC · cricket · fifeC · stumpsB · pumpsB · moonA · down
- 3 AB-C-CBA- moonA · alongB · current · slowC · wimplin · froC · songB · moonA · down
- 4 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · hereB · thistledrift · weirdC · billiken · queeredC · hereB · clearB · moonA · down
- 5 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · menB · pussymouse · freakC · shambler · squeakC · tenB · menB · moonA · down
- 6 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · readyB · squaretoes · tipC · heigho · pipC · readyB · steadyB · moonA · down
- 7 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · scoreB · piper · tootsC · moonboy · bootsC · moreB · scoreB · moonA · down
- 8 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · peeledB · windward · funC · acre · runC · peeledB · fieldB · moonA · down
- 9 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · timeB · comin · bonesC · morrow · dronesC · timeB · chimeB · moonA · down
- 10 AB-C-CBBA- moonA · cloverB · going · wentC · money · spentC · cloverB · overB · moonA · down
- 11 ABCDCDAB moonA · downB · folkC · ringD · folkC · singD · moonA · downB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Moon, Mr. Moon, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Down on the hilltop, | 5 | ···/· |
| Down in the glen, | 4 | ···· |
| Out in the clearin', | 5 | ····· |
| To play with little men? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Hurry up your stumps! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Don't you hear Bullfrog | 5 | ···/· |
| Callin' to his wife, | 5 | ····· |
| And old black Cricket | 5 | ···/˘ |
| A-wheezin' at his fife? | 6 | ······ |
| Hurry up your stumps, | 5 | /˘··· |
| And get on your pumps! | 5 | ····· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Hurry up along! | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| The reeds in the current | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Are whisperin' slow; | 5 | ····· |
| The river's a-wimplin' | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To and fro. | 3 | ··· |
| Or you'll miss the song! | 5 | ····· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We're all here! | 3 | ··· |
| Honey-bug, Thistledrift, | 6 | /˘···· |
| White-imp, Weird, | 3 | ··· |
| Wryface, Billiken, | 5 | ····· |
| Quidnunc, Queered; | 4 | /˘·˘ |
| We're all here, | 3 | ··· |
| And the coast is clear! | 5 | ····· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We're the little men! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Dewlap, Pussymouse, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Ferntip, Freak, | 3 | ··· |
| Drink-again, Shambler, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Talkytalk, Squeak; | 4 | ···· |
| Three times ten | 3 | ··· |
| Of us little men! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We're all ready! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Tallenough, Squaretoes, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Amble, Tip, | 3 | /˘· |
| Buddybud, Heigho, | 5 | ····· |
| Little black Pip; | 4 | /˘·· |
| We're all ready, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| And the wind walks steady! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| We're thirty score; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Yellowbeard, Piper, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Lieabed, Toots, | 2 | ·· |
| Meadowbee, Moonboy, | 5 | ····· |
| Bully-in-boots; | 4 | /˘·· |
| Three times more | 3 | ··· |
| Than thirty score. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Keep your eye peeled; | 5 | ····˘ |
| Watch out to windward, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Or you'll miss the fun, | 5 | ····· |
| Down by the acre | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Where the wheat-waves run; | 5 | ····· |
| Keep your eye peeled | 5 | ····˘ |
| For the open field. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| There's not much time! | 4 | ···· |
| Hurry, if you're comin', | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| You lazy old bones! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| You can sleep to-morrow | 6 | ····/˘ |
| While the Buzbuz drones; | 5 | ····· |
| There's not much time | 4 | ···· |
| Till the church bells chime. | 5 | ····· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Just see the clover! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Soon we'll be going | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Where the Gray Goose went | 5 | ····· |
| When all her money | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Was spent, spent, spent! | 4 | ···· |
| Down through the clover, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| When the revel's over! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Moon, Mr. Moon, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Down where the Good Folk | 5 | ····· |
| Dance in a ring, | 4 | ···· |
| Down where the Little Folk | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sing? | 1 | · |
| Moon, Mr. Moon, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| When you comin' down? | 5 | ··/˘· |
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.