The Feckenham Men
The jolly men at FeckenhamDon’t count their goods as common men,Their heads are full of silly dreamsFrom half-past ten to half-past ten,They’ll tell you why the stars are bright,And some sheep black and some sheep white.
The jolly men at FeckenhamDraw wages of the sun and rain,And count as good as golden coinThe blossoms on the window-pane,And Lord! they love a sinewy taleTold over pots of foaming ale.
Now here’s a tale of FeckenhamTold to me by a Feckenham man,Who, being only eighty years,Ran always when the red fox ran,And looked upon the earth with eyesAs quiet as unclouded skies.
These jolly men of FeckenhamOne day when summer strode in powerWent down, it seems, among their landsAnd saw their bean fields all in flower--“Wheat-ricks,” they said, “be good to see;What would a rick of blossoms be?”
So straight they brought the sickles outAnd worked all day till day was done,And builded them a good square rickOf scented bloom beneath the sun.And was not this I tell to youA fiery-hearted thing to do?
Words in this poem
- pane n.
- The narrow edge of a hammer head. See Peen. [F. panne.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Feckenham Men 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, The Feckenham Men, in Poems, 1908-1919 (1919), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #51575, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drinkwater-poems/the-feckenham-men.html, id L23045.
Form and metre
The Feckenham Men is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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-ABB feckenham · menA · dreams · tenA · brightB · whiteB
- 2 -A-ABB feckenham · rainA · coin · paneA · taleB · aleB
- 3 -A-ABB feckenham · manA · years · ranA · eyesB · skiesB
- 4 -A-ABB feckenham · powerA · lands · flowerA · seeB · beB
- 5 -A-ABB out · doneA · rick · sunA · youB · doB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The jolly men at Feckenham | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Don’t count their goods as common men, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Their heads are full of silly dreams | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| From half-past ten to half-past ten, | 8 | ········ |
| They’ll tell you why the stars are bright, | 8 | ········ |
| And some sheep black and some sheep white. | 8 | ········ |
| The jolly men at Feckenham | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Draw wages of the sun and rain, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And count as good as golden coin | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The blossoms on the window-pane, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Lord! they love a sinewy tale | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Told over pots of foaming ale. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Now here’s a tale of Feckenham | 8 | ········ |
| Told to me by a Feckenham man, | 9 | ········· |
| Who, being only eighty years, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Ran always when the red fox ran, | 8 | ·/······ |
| And looked upon the earth with eyes | 8 | ········ |
| As quiet as unclouded skies. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| These jolly men of Feckenham | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| One day when summer strode in power | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Went down, it seems, among their lands | 8 | ········ |
| And saw their bean fields all in flower-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| “Wheat-ricks,” they said, “be good to see; | 8 | ········ |
| What would a rick of blossoms be?” | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So straight they brought the sickles out | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And worked all day till day was done, | 8 | ········ |
| And builded them a good square rick | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of scented bloom beneath the sun. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And was not this I tell to you | 8 | ········ |
| A fiery-hearted thing to do? | 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.