Picnic-Time
It's June agin, an' in my soul I feel the fillin' joyThat's sure to come this time o' year to every little boy;For, every June, the Sunday schools at picnics may be seen,Where "fields beyont the swellin' floods stand dressed in livin'green."Where little girls are skeered to death with spiders, bugs an' ants,An' little boys get grass-stains on their go-to-meetin' pants.It's June agin, an' with it all what happiness is mine--There's goin' to be a picnic an' I'm goin' to jine!
One year I jined the Baptists, an' goodness! how it rained!(But grampa says that that's the way "Baptizo" is explained.)And once I jined the 'piscopils an' had a heap o' fun--But the boss of all the picnics was the Presbyterium!They had so many puddin's, sallids, sandwidges an' pies,That a feller wisht his stummick was as hungry as his eyes!Oh, yes, the eatin' Presbyteriums give yer is so fineThat when they have a picnic, you bet I'm goin' to jine!
But at this time the Methodists have special claims on me,For they're goin' to give a picnic on the 21st, D. V.;Why should a liberal Universalist like me objectTo share the joys of fellowship with every friendly sect?However het'rodox their articles of faith elsewise may be,Their doctrine of fried chick'n is a savin' grace to me!So on the 21st of June, the weather bein' fine,They're goin' to give a picnic, and I'm goin' to jine!
Words in this poem
- feller n.
- One who, or that which, fells, knocks or cuts down; a machine for felling trees.
- universalist n.
- One who believes in Universalism; one of a denomination of Christians holding this faith. [Cf. F. universaliste.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Picnic-Time 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, Picnic-Time, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/picnic-time.html, id L11624.
Form and metre
Picnic-Time is 25 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 72% of the lines. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AAB-BCCDD joyA · boyA · seenB · livin · greenB · antsC · pantsC · mineD · jineD
- 2 AA--BBCC rainedA · explainedA · fun · presbyterium · piesB · eyesB · fineC · jineC
- 3 AABBAACC meA · vA · objectB · sectB · beA · meA · fineC · jineC
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It's June agin, an' in my soul I feel the fillin' joy | 14 | ··˘/·········· |
| That's sure to come this time o' year to every little boy; | 14 | ·········/˘/˘· |
| For, every June, the Sunday schools at picnics may be seen, | 14 | ·/˘··/···/···· |
| Where "fields beyont the swellin' floods stand dressed in livin' | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| green." | 1 | · |
| Where little girls are skeered to death with spiders, bugs an' ants, | 13 | ·/˘······/··· |
| An' little boys get grass-stains on their go-to-meetin' pants. | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| It's June agin, an' with it all what happiness is mine-- | 13 | ··˘/·····/˘·· |
| There's goin' to be a picnic an' I'm goin' to jine! | 14 | ·/˘···/···/˘·· |
| One year I jined the Baptists, an' goodness! how it rained! | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| (But grampa says that that's the way "Baptizo" is explained.) | 14 | ············˘/ |
| And once I jined the 'piscopils an' had a heap o' fun-- | 14 | ·············· |
| But the boss of all the picnics was the Presbyterium! | 14 | ······/······· |
| They had so many puddin's, sallids, sandwidges an' pies, | 13 | ···/········· |
| That a feller wisht his stummick was as hungry as his eyes! | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| Oh, yes, the eatin' Presbyteriums give yer is so fine | 14 | ·············· |
| That when they have a picnic, you bet I'm goin' to jine! | 14 | ·····/····/˘·· |
| But at this time the Methodists have special claims on me, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| For they're goin' to give a picnic on the 21st, D. V.; | 14 | ··/˘···/······ |
| Why should a liberal Universalist like me object | 14 | ···/˘·······˘/ |
| To share the joys of fellowship with every friendly sect? | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| However het'rodox their articles of faith elsewise may be, | 15 | ·/˘····/˘··/˘·· |
| Their doctrine of fried chick'n is a savin' grace to me! | 13 | ·/˘·····/˘··· |
| So on the 21st of June, the weather bein' fine, | 12 | ·······/˘/˘· |
| They're goin' to give a picnic, and I'm goin' to jine! | 14 | ·/˘···/···/˘·· |
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.