How It Happened
I pray you, pardon me, Elsie,And smile that frown awayThat dims the light of your lovely faceAs a thunder-cloud the day.I really could not help it,--Before I thought, 'twas done,--And those great grey eyes flashed bright and cold,Like an icicle in the sun.
I was thinking of the summersWhen we were boys and girls,And wandered in the blossoming woods,And the gay winds romped with your curls.And you seemed to me the same little girlI kissed in the alder-path,I kissed the little girl's lips, and, alas!I have roused a woman's wrath.
There is not so much to pardon,--For why were your lips so red?The blond hair fell in a shower of goldFrom the proud, provoking head.And the beauty that flashed from the splendid eyes,And played round the tender mouth,Rushed over my soul like a warm sweet windThat blows from the fragrant south.
And where, after all, is the harm done?I believe we were made to be gay,And all of youth not given to loveIs vainly squandered away.And strewn through life's low labours,Like gold in the desert sands,Are love's swift kisses and sighs and vowsAnd the clasp of clinging hands.
And when you are old and lonely,In Memory's magic shineYou will see on your thin and wasting hands,Like gems, these kisses of mine.And when you muse at eveningAt the sound of some vanished name,The ghost of my kisses shall touch your lipsAnd kindle your heart to flame.
Words in this poem
- icicle n.
- A pendent, and usually conical, mass of ice, formed by freezing of dripping water; as, the icicles on the eaves of a house. [OE. isikel, AS. isgicel; is ice + gicel icicle; akin to Icel. jökull; cf. Gael. eigh ice, Ir. aigh.]
- rushed a.
- Abounding or covered with rushes.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
How It Happened is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Hay, How It Happened, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/how-it-happened.html, id L21627.
Form and metre
How It Happened is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 elsie · awayA · face · dayA · it · doneB · cold · sunB
- 2 -A-A-B-B summers · girlsA · woods · curlsA · girl · pathB · alas · wrathB
- 3 -A-A-B-B pardon · redA · gold · headA · eyes · mouthB · wind · southB
- 4 -A-ABCBC done · gayA · love · awayA · laboursB · sandsC · vowsB · handsC
- 5 -A-A-B-B lonely · shineA · hands · mineA · evening · nameB · lips · flameB
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 pray you, pardon me, Elsie, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| And smile that frown away | 6 | ····˘/ |
| That dims the light of your lovely face | 9 | ······/˘· |
| As a thunder-cloud the day. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| I really could not help it,-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Before I thought, 'twas done,-- | 6 | ······ |
| And those great grey eyes flashed bright and cold, | 9 | ········· |
| Like an icicle in the sun. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| I was thinking of the summers | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| When we were boys and girls, | 6 | ······ |
| And wandered in the blossoming woods, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And the gay winds romped with your curls. | 8 | ········ |
| And you seemed to me the same little girl | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I kissed in the alder-path, | 8 | ··˘··/˘· |
| I kissed the little girl's lips, and, alas! | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| I have roused a woman's wrath. | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| There is not so much to pardon,-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For why were your lips so red? | 7 | ······· |
| The blond hair fell in a shower of gold | 9 | ······/·· |
| From the proud, provoking head. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| And the beauty that flashed from the splendid eyes, | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| And played round the tender mouth, | 8 | ··˘··/˘· |
| Rushed over my soul like a warm sweet wind | 9 | ········· |
| That blows from the fragrant south. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And where, after all, is the harm done? | 9 | ········· |
| I believe we were made to be gay, | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| And all of youth not given to love | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Is vainly squandered away. | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| And strewn through life's low labours, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Like gold in the desert sands, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Are love's swift kisses and sighs and vows | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And the clasp of clinging hands. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And when you are old and lonely, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In Memory's magic shine | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| You will see on your thin and wasting hands, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Like gems, these kisses of mine. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And when you muse at evening | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| At the sound of some vanished name, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The ghost of my kisses shall touch your lips | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And kindle your heart to flame. | 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.