A Paraphrase
How happens it, my cruel miss,You're always giving me the mitten?You seem to have forgotten this:That you no longer are a kitten!
A woman that has reached the yearsOf that which people call discretionShould put aside all childish fearsAnd see in courtship no transgression.
A mother's solace may be sweet,But Hymen's tenderness is sweeter,And though all virile love be meet,You'll find the poet's love is metre.
Words in this poem
- mitten n.
- A covering for the hand, worn to defend it from cold or injury. It differs from a glove in not having a separate sheath for each finger. [OE. mitaine, meteyn, F. mitaine, perh. of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. miotog, Gael. miotag, Ir. & Gael. mutan a muff, a thick glove. Cf. Mitt.]
- discretion n.
- Disjunction; separation. Mede. [F. discrétion, L. discretio separation, difference, discernment, fr. discernere, discretum. See Discreet, Discern.]
- courtship n.
- The act of paying court, with the intent to solicit a favor.
- solace n.
- Comfort in grief; alleviation of grief or anxiety; also, that which relieves in distress; that which cheers or consoles; relief. [OF. solas, ssoulaz, L. solacium, solatium, fr. solari to comfort, console. Cf. Console, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Paraphrase 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, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/a-paraphrase.html, id L11605.
Form and metre
A Paraphrase is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% 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. 25% 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 ABAB missA · mittenB · thisA · kittenB
- 2 ABAB yearsA · discretionB · fearsA · transgressionB
- 3 ABAB sweetA · sweeterB · meetA · metreB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How happens it, my cruel miss, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| You're always giving me the mitten? | 9 | ·/·/˘··/˘ |
| You seem to have forgotten this: | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That you no longer are a kitten! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| A woman that has reached the years | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of that which people call discretion | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Should put aside all childish fears | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And see in courtship no transgression. | 9 | ···/··˘/˘ |
| A mother's solace may be sweet, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| But Hymen's tenderness is sweeter, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| And though all virile love be meet, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You'll find the poet's love is metre. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
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.