Thirty-Nine
O hapless day! O wretched day!I hoped you'd pass me by--Alas, the years have sneaked awayAnd all is changed but I!Had I the power, I would remandYou to a gloom condign,But here you've crept upon me andI--I am thirty-nine!
Now, were I thirty-five, I couldAssume a flippant guise;Or, were I forty years, I shouldUndoubtedly look wise;For forty years are said to bringSedateness superfine;But thirty-nine don't mean a thing--A bas with thirty-nine!
You healthy, hulking girls and boys,--What makes you grow so fast?Oh, I'll survive your lusty noise--I'm tough and bound to last!No, no--I'm old and withered too--I feel my powers decline(Yet none believes this can be trueOf one at thirty-nine).
And you, dear girl with velvet eyes,I wonder what you meanThrough all our keen anxietiesBy keeping sweet sixteen.With your dear love to warm my heart,Wretch were I to repine;I was but jesting at the start--I'm glad I'm thirty-nine!
So, little children, roar and raceAs blithely as you can,And, sweetheart, let your tender graceExalt the Day and Man;For then these factors (I'll engage)All subtly shall combineTo make both juvenile and sageThe one who's thirty-nine!
Yes, after all, I'm free to sayI would much rather beStanding as I do stand to-day,'Twixt devil and deep sea;For though my face be dark with careOr with a grimace shine,Each haply falls unto my share,For I am thirty-nine!
'Tis passing meet to make good cheerAnd lord it like a king,Since only once we catch the yearThat doesn't mean a thing.O happy day! O gracious day!I pledge thee in this wine--Come, let us journey on our wayA year, good Thirty-Nine!
Words in this poem
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- remand v. t.
- To recommit; to send back. [F. remander to send word again, L. remandare; pref. re- re- + mandare to commit, order, send word. See Mandate.]
- condign a.
- Worthy; suitable; deserving; fit. [F. condigne, L. condignus very worthy; con- + dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Digne.]
- flippant a.
- Of smooth, fluent, and rapid speech; speaking with ease and rapidity; having a voluble tongue; talkative. [Prov. E. flip to move nimbly; cf. W. llipa soft, limber, pliant, or Icel. fleipa to babble, prattle. Cf. Flip, Fillip, Flap, Flipper.]
- superfine a.
- Very fine, or most fine; being of surpassing fineness; of extra nice or fine quality; as, superfine cloth.
- hulking a.
- Bulky; unwiedly.
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
- blithely adv.
- In a blithe manner.
- subtly adv.
- In a subtle manner; slyly; artfully; cunningly.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- juvenile a.
- Young; youthful; as, a juvenile appearance. [L. juvenilis, from juvenis young; akin to E. young: cf. F. juvénile, juvénil. See Young.]
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thirty-Nine is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; 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, Thirty-Nine, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/thirty-nine.html, id L24680.
Form and metre
Thirty-Nine is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 6 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 dayA · byB · awayA · iB · remandC · condignD · andC · nineD
- 2 ABABCDCD couldA · guiseB · shouldA · wiseB · bringC · superfineD · thingC · nineD
- 3 ABABCDCD boysA · fastB · noiseA · lastB · tooC · declineD · trueC · nineD
- 4 ABABC-C- eyesA · meanB · anxietiesA · sixteenB · heartC · repine · startC · nine
- 5 ABABCDCD raceA · canB · graceA · manB · engageC · combineD · sageC · nineD
- 6 ABABCDCD sayA · beB · dayA · seaB · careC · shineD · shareC · nineD
- 7 ABABCDCD cheerA · kingB · yearA · thingB · dayC · wineD · wayC · nineD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O hapless day! O wretched day! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I hoped you'd pass me by-- | 6 | ······ |
| Alas, the years have sneaked away | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| And all is changed but I! | 6 | ······ |
| Had I the power, I would remand | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| You to a gloom condign, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But here you've crept upon me and | 8 | ········ |
| I--I am thirty-nine! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now, were I thirty-five, I could | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Assume a flippant guise; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Or, were I forty years, I should | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Undoubtedly look wise; | 6 | ˘/˘˘·· |
| For forty years are said to bring | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sedateness superfine; | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| But thirty-nine don't mean a thing-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A bas with thirty-nine! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You healthy, hulking girls and boys,-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| What makes you grow so fast? | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, I'll survive your lusty noise-- | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| I'm tough and bound to last! | 6 | ······ |
| No, no--I'm old and withered too-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I feel my powers decline | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| (Yet none believes this can be true | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Of one at thirty-nine). | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And you, dear girl with velvet eyes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I wonder what you mean | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Through all our keen anxieties | 9 | ··/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| By keeping sweet sixteen. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| With your dear love to warm my heart, | 8 | ········ |
| Wretch were I to repine; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| I was but jesting at the start-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I'm glad I'm thirty-nine! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| So, little children, roar and race | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| As blithely as you can, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And, sweetheart, let your tender grace | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Exalt the Day and Man; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| For then these factors (I'll engage) | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| All subtly shall combine | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| To make both juvenile and sage | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The one who's thirty-nine! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Yes, after all, I'm free to say | 8 | ········ |
| I would much rather be | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Standing as I do stand to-day, | 8 | /˘······ |
| 'Twixt devil and deep sea; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For though my face be dark with care | 8 | ········ |
| Or with a grimace shine, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Each haply falls unto my share, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For I am thirty-nine! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| 'Tis passing meet to make good cheer | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And lord it like a king, | 6 | ······ |
| Since only once we catch the year | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That doesn't mean a thing. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| O happy day! O gracious day! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I pledge thee in this wine-- | 6 | ······ |
| Come, let us journey on our way | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| A year, good Thirty-Nine! | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.