Spain
'Tis here the Spanish onion grows,And they eat garlic all the day,So, if you have a tender nose,'Tis best to go the other way,Or else you may discern, at length,The fact that 'Onion is strength.'
The chestnuts flourish in this land,Quite good to eat, as you will find,For they are not, you understand,The ancient after-dinner kindThat Yankees are accustomed toFrom Mr. Chauncey M. Depew.
The Spanish lady, by the bye,Is an alluring person whoHas got a bright and flashing eye,And knows just how to use it too;It's quite a treat to see her meetThe proud hidalgo on the street.
He wears a sort of soft felt hat,A dagger, and a cloak, you know,Just like the wicked villains thatWe met in plays of long ago,Who sneaked about with aspect glum,Remarking, 'Ha! A time will come!'
His blood, of blue cerulean hue,Runs in his veins like liquid fire,And he can be most rude if youShould rob him of his heart's desire;'Caramba!' he exclaims, and whack!His dagger perforates your back!
If you should care to patroniseA bull-fight, as you will no doubt,You'll see a horse with blinded eyesBe very badly mauled about;By such a scene a weak insideIs sometimes rather sorely tried.
And, if the bull is full of fun,The horse is generally gored,So then they fetch another one,Or else the first one is encored;The humour of the sport, of course,Is not so patent to the horse.
Words in this poem
- hidalgo n.
- A title, denoting a Spanish nobleman of the lower class. [Sp., contr. fr. hijo de algo, i. e., son of something; hijo son (fr. LL. filius) + algo something, fr. L. aliquod. Cf. Fidalgo.]
- glum n.
- Sullenness. Skelton. [See Gloom.]
- cerulean a.
- Sky-colored; blue; azure. [L. caeruleus.]
- whack v. t.
- To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks. [Cf. Thwack.]
- patronise v. t.
- To act as patron toward; to support; to countenance; to favor; to aid.
- sorely adv.
- In a sore manner; grievously; painfully; as, to be sorely afflicted.
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Spain 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, Spain, in Verse and Worse (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36702, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/graham-verse-and-worse/spain.html, id L23313.
Form and metre
Spain is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCC. 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 ABABCC growsA · dayB · noseA · wayB · lengthC · strengthC
- 2 ABABCC landA · findB · understandA · kindB · toC · depewC
- 3 ABABCC byeA · whoB · eyeA · tooB · meetC · streetC
- 4 ABABCC hatA · knowB · thatA · agoB · glumC · comeC
- 5 ABABCC hueA · fireB · youA · desireB · whackC · backC
- 6 ABABCC patroniseA · doubtB · eyesA · aboutB · insideC · triedC
- 7 ABABCC funA · goredB · oneA · encoredB · courseC · horseC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis here the Spanish onion grows, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And they eat garlic all the day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So, if you have a tender nose, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Tis best to go the other way, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or else you may discern, at length, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The fact that 'Onion is strength.' | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The chestnuts flourish in this land, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Quite good to eat, as you will find, | 8 | ········ |
| For they are not, you understand, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The ancient after-dinner kind | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That Yankees are accustomed to | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| From Mr. Chauncey M. Depew. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The Spanish lady, by the bye, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Is an alluring person who | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Has got a bright and flashing eye, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And knows just how to use it too; | 8 | ········ |
| It's quite a treat to see her meet | 8 | ········ |
| The proud hidalgo on the street. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| He wears a sort of soft felt hat, | 8 | ········ |
| A dagger, and a cloak, you know, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Just like the wicked villains that | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| We met in plays of long ago, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Who sneaked about with aspect glum, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Remarking, 'Ha! A time will come!' | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| His blood, of blue cerulean hue, | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| Runs in his veins like liquid fire, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And he can be most rude if you | 8 | ········ |
| Should rob him of his heart's desire; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| 'Caramba!' he exclaims, and whack! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| His dagger perforates your back! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| If you should care to patronise | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A bull-fight, as you will no doubt, | 8 | ········ |
| You'll see a horse with blinded eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Be very badly mauled about; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| By such a scene a weak inside | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Is sometimes rather sorely tried. | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| And, if the bull is full of fun, | 8 | ········ |
| The horse is generally gored, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| So then they fetch another one, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Or else the first one is encored; | 8 | ······/· |
| The humour of the sport, of course, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is not so patent to the horse. | 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.