Jealousy
I SEE’D yer turn the other dayTo watch a chap go by,Because he wore a uniform,And held his shoulders high.And then yer wouldn’t even smile,Or say a word to I!
A kid he was, all pink and white,And strutting like a chick,A tassel at his silly side,And carrying a stick.And yet yer thought the world o’ him,And started breathin’ quick—
The same as when I kissed yer first,Oh! maybe you forget!But you was desperate sweet on I,I mind yer blushes yet.But now yer says me hands are rough,Me coat will never set.
Me hands they bean’t lily white,Me coat may not be trim,But you may know, if fightin’ comes,I’ll fight as well as him,Although they pad his shoulders outTo make his waist look slim.
I haven’t got no buttons onA showy coat of red;I haven’t got no soldier’s capTo wear upon me head.But I can love yer just the same,When all be done and said!
Words in this poem
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- desperate a.
- Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Jealousy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #50591; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Radclyffe Hall, Jealousy, in Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #50591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hall-three-counties/jealousy.html, id L22666.
Form and metre
Jealousy is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-A day · byA · uniform · highA · smile · iA
- 2 -A-A-A white · chickA · side · stickA · him · quickA
- 3 -A-A-A first · forgetA · i · yetA · rough · setA
- 4 -A-A-A white · trimA · comes · himA · out · slimA
- 5 -A-A-A on · redA · cap · headA · same · saidA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I SEE’D yer turn the other day | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To watch a chap go by, | 6 | ······ |
| Because he wore a uniform, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And held his shoulders high. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And then yer wouldn’t even smile, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or say a word to I! | 6 | ······ |
| A kid he was, all pink and white, | 8 | ········ |
| And strutting like a chick, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A tassel at his silly side, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And carrying a stick. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| And yet yer thought the world o’ him, | 8 | ········ |
| And started breathin’ quick— | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The same as when I kissed yer first, | 8 | ········ |
| Oh! maybe you forget! | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| But you was desperate sweet on I, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I mind yer blushes yet. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But now yer says me hands are rough, | 8 | ········ |
| Me coat will never set. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Me hands they bean’t lily white, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Me coat may not be trim, | 6 | ······ |
| But you may know, if fightin’ comes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I’ll fight as well as him, | 6 | ······ |
| Although they pad his shoulders out | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To make his waist look slim. | 6 | ······ |
| I haven’t got no buttons on | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A showy coat of red; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I haven’t got no soldier’s cap | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To wear upon me head. | 6 | ······ |
| But I can love yer just the same, | 8 | ········ |
| When all be done and said! | 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.