Anthony Crundle
Here lies the body ofFarmer, of this parish,Who died in 1849 at the age of 82.“He delighted in music.”And ofSUSAN,For fifty-three years his wife,Who died in 1860, aged 86.
ANTHONY CRUNDLE of Dorrington WoodPlayed on a piccolo. Lord was he,For seventy years, of sheaves that stoodUnder the perry and cider tree;Anthony Crundle, R.I.P.
And because he prospered with sickle and scythe,With cattle afield and labouring ewe,Anthony was uncommonly blithe,And played of a night to himself and Sue;Anthony Crundle, eighty-two.
The earth to till, and a tune to play,And Susan for fifty years and three,And Dorrington Wood at the end of day ...May providence do no worse by me;Anthony Crundle, R.I.P.
Words in this poem
- delighted a.
- Endowed with delight.
- piccolo n.
- A small, shrill flute, the pitch of which is an octave higher than the ordinary flute; an octave flute. [It., small.]
- perry n.
- A suddent squall. See Pirry.
- afield adv.
- To, in, or on the field. [Pref. a- + field.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anthony Crundle 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, Anthony Crundle, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/anthony-crundle.html, id L23048.
Form and metre
Anthony Crundle is 23 lines in 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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-B-A--B ofA · parish · — · music · ofA · susan · wife · —
- 2 ABAB- woodA · heB · stoodA · treeB · r.i.p
- 3 -A-AA scythe · eweA · blithe · sueA · twoA
- 4 ABAB- playA · threeB · dayA · meB · r.i.p
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Here lies the body of | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Farmer, of this parish, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Who died in 1849 at the age of 82. | 7 | ······· |
| “He delighted in music.” | 7 | ·˘/˘·/˘ |
| And of | 2 | ·· |
| SUSAN, | 2 | /˘ |
| For fifty-three years his wife, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Who died in 1860, aged 86. | 4 | ···· |
| ANTHONY CRUNDLE of Dorrington Wood | 9 | /˘······· |
| Played on a piccolo. Lord was he, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| For seventy years, of sheaves that stood | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Under the perry and cider tree; | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| Anthony Crundle, R.I.P. | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| And because he prospered with sickle and scythe, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| With cattle afield and labouring ewe, | 9 | ·/˘˘/·/˘· |
| Anthony was uncommonly blithe, | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| And played of a night to himself and Sue; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Anthony Crundle, eighty-two. | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| The earth to till, and a tune to play, | 9 | ········· |
| And Susan for fifty years and three, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| And Dorrington Wood at the end of day ... | 10 | ·········· |
| May providence do no worse by me; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Anthony Crundle, R.I.P. | 8 | /˘˘····· |
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.