On the Wedding of G. C
Oh, hand me down my spike tail coatAnd reef my waistband in,And tie this necktie round my throatAnd fix my bosom pin;I feel so weak and flustered like,I don't know what I say--For I am to be wedded to-day, Dan'l,I'm to be wedded to-day!
Put double sentries at the doorsAnd pull the curtains down,And tell the democratic boresThat I am out of town;It's funny folks haint decencyEnough to stay away,When I'm to be wedded to-day, Dan'l,I'm to be wedded to-day!
The bride, you say, is calm and coolIn satin robes of white--Well, I am stolid, as a rule,But now I'm flustered quite;Upon a surging sea of blissMy soul is borne away,For I'm to be wedded to-day, Dan'l,I'm to be wedded to-day!
Words in this poem
- waistband n.
- The band which encompasses the waist; esp., one on the upper part of breeches, trousers, pantaloons, skirts, or the like.
- necktie n.
- A scarf, band, or kerchief of silk, etc., passing around the neck or collar and tied in front; a bow of silk, etc., fastened in front of the neck.
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- funny a.
- Droll; comical; amusing; laughable. Funny bone. See crazy bone, under Crazy. [From Fun.]
- 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.]
- stolid a.
- Hopelessly insensible or stupid; not easily aroused or excited; dull; impassive; foolish. [L. stolidus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Wedding of G. C 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, On the Wedding of G. C, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/on-the-wedding-of-g-c.html, id L11588.
Form and metre
On the Wedding of G. C is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-C-C coatA · inB · throatA · pinB · like · sayC · dan'l · dayC
- 2 ABAB-C-C doorsA · downB · boresA · townB · decency · awayC · dan'l · dayC
- 3 ABAB-C-C coolA · whiteB · ruleA · quiteB · bliss · awayC · dan'l · dayC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, hand me down my spike tail coat | 8 | ········ |
| And reef my waistband in, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And tie this necktie round my throat | 8 | ···/···· |
| And fix my bosom pin; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I feel so weak and flustered like, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I don't know what I say-- | 6 | ······ |
| For I am to be wedded to-day, Dan'l, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I'm to be wedded to-day! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Put double sentries at the doors | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And pull the curtains down, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And tell the democratic bores | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That I am out of town; | 6 | ······ |
| It's funny folks haint decency | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Enough to stay away, | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| When I'm to be wedded to-day, Dan'l, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| I'm to be wedded to-day! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The bride, you say, is calm and cool | 8 | ········ |
| In satin robes of white-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Well, I am stolid, as a rule, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But now I'm flustered quite; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Upon a surging sea of bliss | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My soul is borne away, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| For I'm to be wedded to-day, Dan'l, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| I'm to be wedded to-day! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
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.