Mamble
I never went to MambleThat lies above the Teme,So I wonder who’s in Mamble,And whether people seemWho breed and brew along thereAs lazy as the name,And whether any song thereSets alehouse wits aflame.
The finger-post says Mamble,And that is all I knowOf the narrow road to Mamble,And should I turn and goTo that place of lazy tokenThat lies above the Teme,There might be a Mamble brokenThat was lissom in a dream.
So leave the road to MambleAnd take another roadTo as good a place as MambleBe it lazy as a toad;Who travels Worcester countyTakes any place that comesWhen April tosses bountyTo the cherries and the plums.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- brew v. t.
- To boil or seethe; to cook. [OE. brewen, AS. breówan; akin to D. brouwen, OHG. priuwan, MHG. briuwen, br, G. brauen, Icel. brugga, Sw. brygga, Dan. brygge, and perh. to L. defrutum must boi]
- aflame adv.
- Inflames; glowing with light or passion; ablaze. G. Eliot. [Pref. a- + flame.]
- lissom a.
- Limber; supple; flexible; lithe; lithesome. [For lithesome.]
- county n.
- An earldom; the domain of a count or earl. [F. comt, fr. LL. comitatus. See Count.]
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mamble 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, Mamble, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/mamble.html, id L23099.
Form and metre
Mamble is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABABCDCD mambleA · temeB · mambleA · seemB · thereC · nameD · thereC · aflameD
- 2 ABABCDCD mambleA · knowB · mambleA · goB · tokenC · temeD · brokenC · dreamD
- 3 ABABCDCD mambleA · roadB · mambleA · toadB · countyC · comesD · bountyC · plumsD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I never went to Mamble | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| That lies above the Teme, | 6 | ······ |
| So I wonder who’s in Mamble, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And whether people seem | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Who breed and brew along there | 7 | ····˘/· |
| As lazy as the name, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And whether any song there | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Sets alehouse wits aflame. | 6 | ·/··˘/ |
| The finger-post says Mamble, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And that is all I know | 6 | ······ |
| Of the narrow road to Mamble, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And should I turn and go | 6 | ······ |
| To that place of lazy token | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| That lies above the Teme, | 6 | ······ |
| There might be a Mamble broken | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That was lissom in a dream. | 7 | ······· |
| So leave the road to Mamble | 7 | ······· |
| And take another road | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| To as good a place as Mamble | 8 | ········ |
| Be it lazy as a toad; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Who travels Worcester county | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Takes any place that comes | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When April tosses bounty | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| To the cherries and the plums. | 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.