Bonnie Jim Campbell: A Legislative Memory
Bonnie Jim Campbell rode up the glen,But it wasn't to meet the butterine men;It wasn't Phil Armour he wanted to see,Nor Haines nor Crafts--though their friend was he.Jim Campbell was guileless as man could be--No fraud in his heart had he;'Twas all on account of his character's sakeThat he sought that distant Wisconsin lake.
Bonnie Jim Campbell came riding home,And now he sits in the rural gloam;A tear steals furtively down his noseAs salt as the river that yonder flows;To the setting sun and the rising moonHe plaintively warbles the good old tune:
"Of all the drinks that ever were made--From sherbet to circus lemonade--Not one's so healthy and sweet, I vow,As the rich, thick cream of the Elgin cow!Oh, that she were here to enliven the scene,Right merry would be our hearts, I ween;Then, then again, Bob Wilbanks and IWould take it by turns and milk her dry!We would stuff her paunch with the best of hayAnd milk her a hundred times a day!"
'Tis thus that Bonnie Jim Campbell sings--A young he-angel with sprouting wings;He sings and he prays that Fate'll allowHim one more whack at the Elgin cow!
Words in this poem
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- butterine n.
- A substance prepared from animal fat with some other ingredients intermixed, as an imitation of butter.
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- guileless a.
- Free from guile; artless.
- gloam v. i.
- To begin to grow dark; to grow dusky. [See Gloom, Glum.]
- furtively adv.
- Stealthily by theft. Lover.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- lemonade n.
- A beverage consisting of lemon juice mixed with water and sweetened. [F. limonade; cf. Sp. limonada, It. limonata. See Lemon.]
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- paunch n.
- The belly and its contents; the abdomen; also, the first stomach, or rumen, of ruminants. See Rumen. [OF. panch, pance, F. panse, L. pantex, panticis.]
- whack v. t.
- To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks. [Cf. Thwack.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bonnie Jim Campbell: A Legislative Memory 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, Bonnie Jim Campbell: A Legislative Memory, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/bonnie-jim-campbell-a-legislative-memory.html, id L11584.
Form and metre
Bonnie Jim Campbell: A Legislative Memory is 28 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 72%). 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBBBCC glenA · menA · seeB · heB · beB · heB · sakeC · lakeC
- 2 AABBCC homeA · gloamA · noseB · flowsB · moonC · tuneC
- 3 AABBCCDDEE madeA · lemonadeA · vowB · cowB · sceneC · weenC · iD · dryD · hayE · dayE
- 4 AABB singsA · wingsA · allowB · cowB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Bonnie Jim Campbell rode up the glen, | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| But it wasn't to meet the butterine men; | 11 | ··/˘···/˘˘· |
| It wasn't Phil Armour he wanted to see, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Nor Haines nor Crafts--though their friend was he. | 9 | ········· |
| Jim Campbell was guileless as man could be-- | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| No fraud in his heart had he; | 7 | ······· |
| 'Twas all on account of his character's sake | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| That he sought that distant Wisconsin lake. | 10 | ····/˘˘/˘· |
| Bonnie Jim Campbell came riding home, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And now he sits in the rural gloam; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A tear steals furtively down his nose | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As salt as the river that yonder flows; | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| To the setting sun and the rising moon | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| He plaintively warbles the good old tune: | 10 | ·/·˘/˘···· |
| "Of all the drinks that ever were made-- | 8 | ·····/·· |
| From sherbet to circus lemonade-- | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘/ |
| Not one's so healthy and sweet, I vow, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| As the rich, thick cream of the Elgin cow! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Oh, that she were here to enliven the scene, | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| Right merry would be our hearts, I ween; | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| Then, then again, Bob Wilbanks and I | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| Would take it by turns and milk her dry! | 9 | ········· |
| We would stuff her paunch with the best of hay | 10 | ·········· |
| And milk her a hundred times a day!" | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| 'Tis thus that Bonnie Jim Campbell sings-- | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| A young he-angel with sprouting wings; | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| He sings and he prays that Fate'll allow | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Him one more whack at the Elgin cow! | 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.