The Romance of a Watch
One day his father said to John:"Come here and see what I hev bought---A Waterbury watch, my son--It is the boon you long hev sought!"
The boy could scarcely believe his eyes--The watch was shiny, smooth an' slick--He snatched the nickel-plated prizeAn' wound away to hear it tick.
He wound an' wound, an' wound an' wound,An' kept a windin' fit to kill--The weeks an' months an' years rolled round,But John he kep' a windin', still!
As autumns came an' winters wentAn' summers follered arter spring,John didn't mind--he was intentOn windin' up that darned ol' thing.
He got to be a poor ol' man--He's bald an' deaf an' blind an' lame,But, like he did when he began,He keeps on windin', jest the same!
Words in this poem
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- shiny a.
- Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
- slick v. t.
- To make sleek or smoth.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Romance of a Watch 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, The Romance of a Watch, in Hoosier Lyrics (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36150, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-poems/the-romance-of-a-watch.html, id L11625.
Form and metre
The Romance of a Watch is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, 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 8.1 syllables. 15% 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 -A-A john · boughtA · son · soughtA
- 2 ABAB eyesA · slickB · prizeA · tickB
- 3 ABAB woundA · killB · roundA · stillB
- 4 ABAB wentA · springB · intentA · thingB
- 5 ABAB manA · lameB · beganA · sameB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One day his father said to John: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Come here and see what I hev bought--- | 8 | ········ |
| A Waterbury watch, my son-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| It is the boon you long hev sought!" | 8 | ········ |
| The boy could scarcely believe his eyes-- | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| The watch was shiny, smooth an' slick-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He snatched the nickel-plated prize | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| An' wound away to hear it tick. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He wound an' wound, an' wound an' wound, | 8 | ········ |
| An' kept a windin' fit to kill-- | 8 | ········ |
| The weeks an' months an' years rolled round, | 8 | ········ |
| But John he kep' a windin', still! | 8 | ········ |
| As autumns came an' winters went | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| An' summers follered arter spring, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| John didn't mind--he was intent | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| On windin' up that darned ol' thing. | 8 | ········ |
| He got to be a poor ol' man-- | 8 | ········ |
| He's bald an' deaf an' blind an' lame, | 8 | ········ |
| But, like he did when he began, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He keeps on windin', jest the same! | 8 | ········ |
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.