To Robin Goodfellow
I see you, Maister Bawsy-brown,Through yonder lattice creepin';You come for cream and to gar me dream,But you dinna find me sleepin'.The moonbeam, that upon the floorWi' crickets ben a-jinkin',Now steals away fra' her bonnie play--Wi' a rosier blie, I'm thinkin'.
I saw you, Maister Bawsy-brown,When the blue bells went a-ringin'For the merrie fays o' the banks an' braes,And I kenned your bonnie singin';The gowans gave you honey sweets,And the posies on the heatherDript draughts o' dew for the faery crewThat danct and sang together.
But posie-bloom an' simmer-dewAnd ither sweets o' faeryC'u'd na gae down wi' Bawsy-brown,Sae nigh to Maggie's dairy!My pantry shelves, sae clean and white,Are set wi' cream and cheeses,--Gae, gin you will, an' take your fillOf whatsoever pleases.
Then wave your wand aboon my eenUntil they close awearie,And the night be past sae sweet and fastWi' dreamings o' my dearie.But pinch the wench in yonder room,For she's na gude nor bonnie,--Her shelves be dust and her pans be rust,And she winkit at my Johnnie!
Words in this poem
- maister n.
- Master. Chaucer.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- rosier n.
- A rosebush; roses, collectively. [F., fr. L. rosarius of roses. Cf. Rosary.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- simmer v. i.
- To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil. [Prov. E. also simper; -- an onomatopoetic word.]
- aboon prep.
- and adv. Above.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Robin Goodfellow 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, To Robin Goodfellow, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/to-robin-goodfellow.html, id L24632.
Form and metre
To Robin Goodfellow is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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-B-B brown · creepinA · dream · sleepinA · floor · jinkinB · play · thinkinB
- 2 -A-A-B-B brown · ringinA · braes · singinA · sweets · heatherB · crew · togetherB
- 3 -A-A-B-B dew · faeryA · brown · dairyA · white · cheesesB · fill · pleasesB
- 4 -A-A-B-B een · awearieA · fast · dearieA · room · bonnieB · rust · johnnieB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I see you, Maister Bawsy-brown, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Through yonder lattice creepin'; | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| You come for cream and to gar me dream, | 9 | ········· |
| But you dinna find me sleepin'. | 8 | ········ |
| The moonbeam, that upon the floor | 8 | ·/······ |
| Wi' crickets ben a-jinkin', | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Now steals away fra' her bonnie play-- | 9 | ··˘/··/˘· |
| Wi' a rosier blie, I'm thinkin'. | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| I saw you, Maister Bawsy-brown, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When the blue bells went a-ringin' | 8 | ········ |
| For the merrie fays o' the banks an' braes, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| And I kenned your bonnie singin'; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| The gowans gave you honey sweets, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And the posies on the heather | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Dript draughts o' dew for the faery crew | 9 | ········· |
| That danct and sang together. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| But posie-bloom an' simmer-dew | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ither sweets o' faery | 7 | ······· |
| C'u'd na gae down wi' Bawsy-brown, | 8 | ········ |
| Sae nigh to Maggie's dairy! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| My pantry shelves, sae clean and white, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Are set wi' cream and cheeses,-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Gae, gin you will, an' take your fill | 8 | ········ |
| Of whatsoever pleases. | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Then wave your wand aboon my een | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Until they close awearie, | 7 | ······· |
| And the night be past sae sweet and fast | 9 | ········· |
| Wi' dreamings o' my dearie. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| But pinch the wench in yonder room, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For she's na gude nor bonnie,-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Her shelves be dust and her pans be rust, | 9 | ········· |
| And she winkit at my Johnnie! | 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.