Lizzie
I wonder ef all wimmin airLike Lizzie is when we go outTo theaters an' concerts whereIs things the papers talk about.Do other wimmin fret and stewLike they wuz bein' crucified--Frettin' a show or a concert through,With wonderin' ef the baby cried?
Now Lizzie knows that gran'ma's thereTo see that everything is right,Yet Lizzie thinks that gran'ma's careAin't good enuf f'r baby, quite;Yet what am I to answer whenShe kind uv fidgets at my side,An' every now and then;"I wonder ef the baby cried?"
Seems like she seen two little eyesA-pinin' f'r their mother's smile--Seems like she heern the pleadin' criesUv one she thinks uv all the while;An' she's sorry that she come,'An' though she allus tries to hideThe truth, she'd ruther stay to humThan wonder ef the baby cried.
Yes, wimmin folks is all alike--By Lizzie you kin jedge the rest.There never was a little tyke,But that his mother loved him best,And nex' to bein' what I be--The husband of my gentle bride--I'd wisht I wuz that croodlin' wee,With Lizzie wonderin' ef I cried.
Words in this poem
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lizzie 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, Lizzie, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/lizzie.html, id L11577.
Form and metre
Lizzie is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. 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 8.0 syllables. 34% 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 ABABCDCD airA · outB · whereA · aboutB · stewC · crucifiedD · throughC · criedD
- 2 ABABCDCD thereA · rightB · careA · quiteB · whenC · sideD · thenC · criedD
- 3 ABABCDCD eyesA · smileB · criesA · whileB · comeC · hideD · humC · criedD
- 4 ABABCDCD alikeA · restB · tykeA · bestB · beC · brideD · weeC · criedD
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 wonder ef all wimmin air | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like Lizzie is when we go out | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To theaters an' concerts where | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Is things the papers talk about. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Do other wimmin fret and stew | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like they wuz bein' crucified-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Frettin' a show or a concert through, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| With wonderin' ef the baby cried? | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Now Lizzie knows that gran'ma's there | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To see that everything is right, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet Lizzie thinks that gran'ma's care | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ain't good enuf f'r baby, quite; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet what am I to answer when | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She kind uv fidgets at my side, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' every now and then; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| "I wonder ef the baby cried?" | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Seems like she seen two little eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A-pinin' f'r their mother's smile-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Seems like she heern the pleadin' cries | 8 | ········ |
| Uv one she thinks uv all the while; | 8 | ········ |
| An' she's sorry that she come, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'An' though she allus tries to hide | 8 | ········ |
| The truth, she'd ruther stay to hum | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Than wonder ef the baby cried. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Yes, wimmin folks is all alike-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| By Lizzie you kin jedge the rest. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| There never was a little tyke, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But that his mother loved him best, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And nex' to bein' what I be-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The husband of my gentle bride-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I'd wisht I wuz that croodlin' wee, | 8 | ········ |
| With Lizzie wonderin' ef I cried. | 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.