Our Baby
'Tis very strange, but quite as true,That when our Baby smilesOur club gets walloped black and blueIn all the latest styles;But when our Baby's hopping madIt's quite the other way--Chicago beats the Yankees badWhen Baby doesn't play.
When baby stands upon his base,Just after having kicked,Upon his Scandinavian faceAppears the legend, "Licked";But when he orders out a sub,We well may hip-hooray--Chicago has the winning clubWhen Baby doesn't play.
But, if our Baby's getting old,And stiff, and cross, and vain,And if his days are nearly told,Oh, let us not complain.Let's rather think of what he wasAnd how he's made it payTo hire the kids that win becauseOur Baby doesn't play.
About this text
Our Baby 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, Our Baby, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/our-baby.html, id L11626.
Form and metre
Our Baby is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 trueA · smilesB · blueA · stylesB · madC · wayD · badC · playD
- 2 ABABCDCD baseA · kickedB · faceA · lickedB · subC · hoorayD · clubC · playD
- 3 ABABCDCD oldA · vainB · toldA · complainB · wasC · payD · becauseC · playD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis very strange, but quite as true, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That when our Baby smiles | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Our club gets walloped black and blue | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| In all the latest styles; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But when our Baby's hopping mad | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| It's quite the other way-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Chicago beats the Yankees bad | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| When Baby doesn't play. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| When baby stands upon his base, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Just after having kicked, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Upon his Scandinavian face | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Appears the legend, "Licked"; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| But when he orders out a sub, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| We well may hip-hooray-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Chicago has the winning club | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| When Baby doesn't play. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| But, if our Baby's getting old, | 8 | ··//˘/˘· |
| And stiff, and cross, and vain, | 6 | ······ |
| And if his days are nearly told, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Oh, let us not complain. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Let's rather think of what he was | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And how he's made it pay | 6 | ······ |
| To hire the kids that win because | 8 | ·/······ |
| Our Baby doesn't play. | 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.