A Paraphrase, Ostensibly by Dr. I. W
Why, Mistress Chloe, do you botherWith prattlings and with vain adoYour worthy and industrious mother,Eschewing them that come to woo?
Oh, that the awful truth might quickenThis stern conviction to your breast:You are no longer now a chickenToo young to quit the parent nest.
So put aside your froward carriageAnd fix your thoughts, whilst yet there's time,Upon the righteousness of marriageWith some such godly man as I'm.
Words in this poem
- industrious a.
- Given to industry; characterized by diligence; constantly, regularly, or habitually occupied; busy; assiduous; not slothful or idle; -- commonly implying devotion to lawful and useful labor. [L. industrius, industriosus: cf. F. industrieux. See Industry.]
- righteousness n.
- The quality or state of being righteous; holiness; purity; uprightness; rectitude. [AS. rihtwisnes.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Paraphrase, Ostensibly by Dr. I. W is in the public domain. This text is taken from Hoosier Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #36150; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, A Paraphrase, Ostensibly by Dr. I. W, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/a-paraphrase-ostensibly-by-dr-i-w.html, id L11593.
Form and metre
A Paraphrase, Ostensibly by Dr. I. W is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-A bother · adoA · mother · wooA
- 2 ABAB quickenA · breastB · chickenA · nestB
- 3 -A-A carriage · timeA · marriage · i'mA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Why, Mistress Chloe, do you bother | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| With prattlings and with vain ado | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Your worthy and industrious mother, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Eschewing them that come to woo? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Oh, that the awful truth might quicken | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| This stern conviction to your breast: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| You are no longer now a chicken | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Too young to quit the parent nest. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So put aside your froward carriage | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And fix your thoughts, whilst yet there's time, | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the righteousness of marriage | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| With some such godly man as I'm. | 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.