John
John, across the broad Atlantic,Tried to navigate a barque,But he met an unromanticAnd extremely hungry shark.
John (I blame his childhood's teachers)Thought to treat this as a lark,Ignorant of how these creaturesDo delight to bite a barque.
Said, 'This animal's a bore!' and,With a scornful sort of grin,Handled an adjacent oar andChucked it underneath the chin.
At this unexpected juncture,Which he had not reckoned on,Mr. Shark he made a punctureIn the barque--and then in John.
Sad am I, and sore at thinkingJohn had on some clothes of mine;I can almost see them shrinking,Washed repeatedly in brine.
I shall never cease regrettingThat I lent my hat to him,For I fear a thorough wettingCannot well improve the brim.
Oh! to know a shark is browsing,Boldly, blandly, on my boots!Coldly, cruelly carousingOn the choicest of my suits!
Creatures I regard with loathing,Who can calmly take their fillOf one's Jaeger underclothing:--Down, my aching heart, be still!
Words in this poem
- barque n.
- Formerly, any small sailing vessel, as a pinnace, fishing smack, etc.; also, a rowing boat; a barge. Now applied poetically to a sailing vessel or boat of any kind. [F. barque, fr. Sp. or It. barca, fr. LL. barca for barica. See Barge.]
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- juncture n.
- A joining; a union; an alliance. [L.junctura, fr. jungere to join. See Jointure.]
- 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,]
- browsing n.
- Browse; also, a place abounding with shrubs where animals may browse.
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
- blandly adv.
- In a bland manner; mildly; suavely.
- coldly adv.
- In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.
- carousing a.
- That carouses; relating to a carouse.
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
John is in the public domain. This text is taken from Verse and Worse, Project Gutenberg ebook #36702; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Harry Graham, John, in Verse and Worse (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36702, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graham-verse-and-worse/john.html, id L23331.
Form and metre
John is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB atlanticA · barqueB · unromanticA · sharkB
- 2 ABAB teachersA · larkB · creaturesA · barqueB
- 3 ABAB andA · grinB · andA · chinB
- 4 ABAB junctureA · onB · punctureA · johnB
- 5 ABAB thinkingA · mineB · shrinkingA · brineB
- 6 ABAB regrettingA · himB · wettingA · brimB
- 7 ABAB browsingA · bootsB · carousingA · suitsB
- 8 ABAB loathingA · fillB · underclothingA · stillB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| John, across the broad Atlantic, | 8 | ·˘/··˘/˘ |
| Tried to navigate a barque, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But he met an unromantic | 8 | ········ |
| And extremely hungry shark. | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| John (I blame his childhood's teachers) | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| Thought to treat this as a lark, | 7 | ······· |
| Ignorant of how these creatures | 8 | /˘˘···/˘ |
| Do delight to bite a barque. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Said, 'This animal's a bore!' and, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| With a scornful sort of grin, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Handled an adjacent oar and | 8 | /˘·˘/˘·· |
| Chucked it underneath the chin. | 8 | ·˘··˘/·· |
| At this unexpected juncture, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| Which he had not reckoned on, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Mr. Shark he made a puncture | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| In the barque--and then in John. | 7 | ······· |
| Sad am I, and sore at thinking | 8 | ······/˘ |
| John had on some clothes of mine; | 7 | ······· |
| I can almost see them shrinking, | 8 | ··/···/˘ |
| Washed repeatedly in brine. | 8 | ·˘˘/˘˘·· |
| I shall never cease regretting | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| That I lent my hat to him, | 7 | ······· |
| For I fear a thorough wetting | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Cannot well improve the brim. | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Oh! to know a shark is browsing, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Boldly, blandly, on my boots! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Coldly, cruelly carousing | 7 | /˘/˘˘/˘ |
| On the choicest of my suits! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Creatures I regard with loathing, | 8 | /˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Who can calmly take their fill | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of one's Jaeger underclothing:-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Down, my aching heart, be still! | 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.