A Rhyme of Robin Puck
Howsoe’er the tale be spread,Puck, the pranksome, is not dead.
At such tidings of mishap,Any breeze-blown columbineWould but toss a scarlet cap,--Would but laugh, with shaken head,“Trust it not, do not repine,Puck, the pranksome, is not dead!”If you know not what to think,Ask the tittering bobolink;Straightway shall the answer riseBubbling from his gleeful breast:“Dead? ’Tis but his latest jest!Robin Puck, the wild and wise,Frolics on, and never dies!”
Had we but the elfin sight,On some pleasant summer nightWe should see him and his crewIn the fields that gleam with dew;Had we but the elfin ear,(Pointed sharply like a leaf,)In the meadows we should hearFairy pipings, fine and brief,Shrilled through throats of tiniest flowers;Would that subtler sense were ours!
Tricksy Puck! I shall not tellHow it is I know him well.Swift yet clumsy, plump yet wee,Brown as hazel-nut is he;And from either temple springsSuch a waving, hair-like hornAs by butterflies is worn;Glassy-clear his glistening wings,Like the small green-bodied flies’In the birch-woods; and his eyes,Set aslant, as blackly shineAs the myriad globes whereinThe wild blackberry keeps her wine;And his voice is piercing thin,But he changes that at will--Mocking rogue!--with birdlike skill.How it is I must not tell,But you see I know him well.
Ah! with some rare, secret spellShould we bathe in moonlit dewEyes that this world’s book have read,We should see him and his crewIn the dreamy summer dell:For, howe’er the tale be spread,Puck, the pranksome, is not dead!
Words in this poem 18
- puck n.
- A celebrated fairy, [OE. pouke; cf. OSw. puke, Icel. puki an evil demon, W. pwca a hobgoblin. Cf. Poker a bugbear, Pug.]
- mishap v. i.
- To happen unluckily; -- used impersonally.
- columbine a.
- Of or pertaining to a dove; dovelike; dove-colored. [L. columbinus, fr. columba dove.]
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
- bobolink n.
- An American singing bird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus). The male is black and white; the female is brown; -- called also, ricebird, reedbird, and Boblincoln.
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- gleeful a.
- Merry; gay; joyous.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- elfin a.
- Relating to elves.
- tricksy a.
- Exhibiting artfulness; trickish. [From Trick.]
- clumsy a.
- Stiff or benumbed, as with cold. [OE. clumsed benumbed, fr. clumsen to be benumbed; cf. Icel. klumsa lockjaw, dial. Sw. klummsen benumbed with cold. Cf. 1st Clam, and 1st Clamp.]
- aslant adv.
- Toward one side; in a slanting direction; obliquely. [Pref. a- + slant.]
- blackly adv.
- In a black manner; darkly, in color; gloomily; threateningly; atrociously.
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- moonlit a.
- Illumined by the moon.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Rhyme of Robin Puck is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, A Rhyme of Robin Puck, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/a-rhyme-of-robin-puck.html, id L22065.
Form and metre
A Rhyme of Robin Puck is 50 lines in 5 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 spreadA · deadA
- 2 A-AB-BCCDEEDD mishapA · columbine · capA · headB · repine · deadB · thinkC · bobolinkC · riseD · breastE · jestE · wiseD · diesD
- 3 AABBCDCDEE sightA · nightA · crewB · dewB · earC · leafD · hearC · briefD · flowersE · oursE
- 4 AABBCDDCEEFGFGHHAA tellA · wellA · weeB · heB · springsC · hornD · wornD · wingsC · fliesE · eyesE · shineF · whereinG · wineF · thinG · willH · skillH · tellA · wellA
- 5 ABCBACC spellA · dewB · readC · crewB · dellA · spreadC · deadC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Howsoe’er the tale be spread, | 6 | ······ |
| Puck, the pranksome, is not dead. | 7 | ······· |
| At such tidings of mishap, | 7 | ··/˘·/· |
| Any breeze-blown columbine | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Would but toss a scarlet cap,-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Would but laugh, with shaken head, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| “Trust it not, do not repine, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Puck, the pranksome, is not dead!” | 7 | ······· |
| If you know not what to think, | 7 | ······· |
| Ask the tittering bobolink; | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Straightway shall the answer rise | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Bubbling from his gleeful breast: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| “Dead? ’Tis but his latest jest! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Robin Puck, the wild and wise, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Frolics on, and never dies!” | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Had we but the elfin sight, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| On some pleasant summer night | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| We should see him and his crew | 7 | ······· |
| In the fields that gleam with dew; | 7 | ······· |
| Had we but the elfin ear, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| (Pointed sharply like a leaf,) | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| In the meadows we should hear | 7 | ··/···· |
| Fairy pipings, fine and brief, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Shrilled through throats of tiniest flowers; | 7 | ····/˘/ |
| Would that subtler sense were ours! | 7 | ··/˘··/ |
| Tricksy Puck! I shall not tell | 7 | /˘····· |
| How it is I know him well. | 7 | ······· |
| Swift yet clumsy, plump yet wee, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Brown as hazel-nut is he; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And from either temple springs | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Such a waving, hair-like horn | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| As by butterflies is worn; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Glassy-clear his glistening wings, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Like the small green-bodied flies’ | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In the birch-woods; and his eyes, | 7 | ······· |
| Set aslant, as blackly shine | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| As the myriad globes wherein | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The wild blackberry keeps her wine; | 8 | ··/·˘··· |
| And his voice is piercing thin, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But he changes that at will-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Mocking rogue!--with birdlike skill. | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| How it is I must not tell, | 7 | ······· |
| But you see I know him well. | 7 | ······· |
| Ah! with some rare, secret spell | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Should we bathe in moonlit dew | 7 | ····/·· |
| Eyes that this world’s book have read, | 7 | ······· |
| We should see him and his crew | 7 | ······· |
| In the dreamy summer dell: | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| For, howe’er the tale be spread, | 7 | ······· |
| Puck, the pranksome, is not dead! | 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.