Laurel · John Drinkwater · Poems, 1908-1919

A Man’s Daughter

John Drinkwater (1882–1937) · 1919

iambic dimeter · ABAB · 48 lines · from Poems, 1908-1919

There is an old woman who looks each nightOut of the wood.She has one tooth, that isn’t too white.She isn’t too good.

She came from the north looking for me,About my jewel.Her son, she says, is tall as can be;But, men say, cruel.

My girl went northward, holiday making,And a queer man spokeAt the woodside once when night was breaking,And her heart broke.

For ever since she has pined and pined,A sorry maid;Her fingers are slack as the wool they wind,Or her girdle-braid.

So now shall I send her north to wed,Who here may knowOnly the little house of the deadTo ease her woe?

Or keep her for fear of that old woman,As a bird quick-eyed,And her tall son who is hardly human,At the woodside?

She is my babe and my daughter dear,How well, how well.Her grief to me is a fourfold fear,Tongue cannot tell.

And yet I know that far in that woodAre crumbling bones,And a mumble mumble of nothing that’s good,In heathen tones.

And I know that frail ghosts flutter and sighIn brambles there,And never a bird or beast to cry--Beware, beware,--

While threading the silent thickets goMother and son,Where scrupulous berries never grow,And airs are none.

And her deep eyes peer at eventideOut of the wood,And her tall son waits by the dark woodsideFor maidenhood.

And the little eyes peer, and peer, and peer;And a word is said.And some house knows, for many a year,But years of dread.

Words in this poem

went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
northward a.: Toward the north; nearer to the north than to the east or west point. [AS. noredhweard.]
spoke n.: The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
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,]
babe n.: An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
mumble v. t.: To speak with the lips partly closed, so as to render the sounds inarticulate and imperfect; to utter words in a grumbling indistinct manner, indicating discontent or displeasure; to mutter. [OE. momelen; cf. D. mompelen, mommelen, G. mummelen, Sw. mumla, Dan. mumle. Cf. Mum, a., Mumm, Mump, v.]
beware v. t.: To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
eventide n.: The time of evening; evening. [AS. æfentid. See Tide.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

A Man’s Daughter is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, 1908-1919, Project Gutenberg ebook #51575; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: John Drinkwater, A Man’s Daughter, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/a-man-s-daughter.html, id L23054.

Form and metre

A Man’s Daughter is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 11 of its 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).

See other poems in iambic dimeter.

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 ABAB night^A · wood^B · white^A · good^B
2 ABAB me^A · jewel^B · be^A · cruel^B
3 ABAB making^A · spoke^B · breaking^A · broke^B
4 ABAB pined^A · maid^B · wind^A · braid^B
5 ABAB wed^A · know^B · dead^A · woe^B
6 -A-A woman · eyed^A · human · woodside^A
7 ABAB dear^A · well^B · fear^A · tell^B
8 ABAB wood^A · bones^B · good^A · tones^B
9 ABAB sigh^A · there^B · cry^A · beware^B
10 ABAB go^A · son^B · grow^A · none^B
11 ABAB eventide^A · wood^B · woodside^A · maidenhood^B
12 ABAB peer^A · said^B · year^A · dread^B

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 dimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
There is an old woman who looks each night	10	····/˘····
Out of the wood.	4	····
She has one tooth, that isn’t too white.	9	·····/˘··
She isn’t too good.	5	·/˘··
She came from the north looking for me,	9	·····/˘··
About my jewel.	5	···/˘
Her son, she says, is tall as can be;	9	·········
But, men say, cruel.	5	···/˘
My girl went northward, holiday making,	10	···/˘/˘·/˘
And a queer man spoke	5	·····
At the woodside once when night was breaking,	10	··/·····/˘
And her heart broke.	4	····
For ever since she has pined and pined,	8	·/······
A sorry maid;	4	·/˘·
Her fingers are slack as the wool they wind,	10	·/˘·······
Or her girdle-braid.	5	··/˘·
So now shall I send her north to wed,	9	·········
Who here may know	4	····
Only the little house of the dead	9	/˘·/˘····
To ease her woe?	4	····
Or keep her for fear of that old woman,	10	········/˘
As a bird quick-eyed,	5	·····
And her tall son who is hardly human,	10	······/˘/˘
At the woodside?	4	··/·
She is my babe and my daughter dear,	9	······/˘·
How well, how well.	4	····
Her grief to me is a fourfold fear,	9	······//·
Tongue cannot tell.	4	·/˘·
And yet I know that far in that wood	9	·········
Are crumbling bones,	5	·/˘˘·
And a mumble mumble of nothing that’s good,	11	··/˘/˘·/˘··
In heathen tones.	4	·/˘·
And I know that frail ghosts flutter and sigh	10	······/˘··
In brambles there,	4	·/˘·
And never a bird or beast to cry--	8	·/······
Beware, beware,--	4	˘/˘/
While threading the silent thickets go	9	·/˘·/˘/˘·
Mother and son,	4	/˘··
Where scrupulous berries never grow,	8	·/˘˘/˘/·
And airs are none.	4	····
And her deep eyes peer at eventide	9	······/˘˘
Out of the wood,	4	····
And her tall son waits by the dark woodside	10	········/·
For maidenhood.	4	·/˘˘
And the little eyes peer, and peer, and peer;	10	··/˘······
And a word is said.	5	·····
And some house knows, for many a year,	8	·····/··
But years of dread.	4	····

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.

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