Little Breeches
I don't go much on religion,I never ain't had no show;But I've got a middlin' tight grip, sir,On the handful o' things I know.I don't pan out on the prophetsAnd free-will, and that sort of thing,--But I b'lieve in God and the angels,Ever sence one night last spring.
I come into town with some turnips,And my little Gabe come along,--No four-year-old in the countyCould beat him for pretty and strong,Peart and chipper and sassy,Always ready to swear and fight,--And I'd larnt him to chaw terbackerJest to keep his milk-teeth white.
The snow come down like a blanketAs I passed by Taggart's store;I went in for a jug of molassesAnd left the team at the door.They scared at something and started,--I heard one little squall,And hell-to-split over the prairieWent team, Little Breeches and all.
Hell-to-split over the prairie!I was almost froze with skeer;But we rousted up some torches,And searched for 'em far and near.At last we struck hosses and wagon,Snowed under a soft white mound,Upsot, dead beat,--but of little GabeNo hide nor hair was found.
And here all hope soured on me,Of my fellow-critters' aid,--I jest flopped down on my marrow-bones,Crotch-deep in the snow, and prayed.
By this, the torches was played out,And me and Isrul ParrWent off for some wood to a sheepfoldThat he said was somewhar thar.
We found it at last, and a little shedWhere they shut up the lambs at night.We looked in and seen them huddled thar,So warm and sleepy and white;And thar sot Little Breeches and chirped,As peart as ever you see,"I want a chaw of terbacker,And that's what's the matter of me."
How did he git thar? Angels.He could never have walked in that storm;They jest scooped down and toted himTo whar it was safe and warm.And I think that saving a little child,And fotching him to his own,Is a derned sight better businessThan loafing around The Throne.
Words in this poem
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- county n.
- An earldom; the domain of a count or earl. [F. comt, fr. LL. comitatus. See Count.]
- peart a.
- Active; lively; brisk; smart; -- often applied to convalescents; as, she is quite peart to-day. [O. Eng. & Colloq. U. [A variant of pert, a.]
- chipper v. i.
- To chirp or chirrup. [ Prov. Eng.] Forby. [Cf. Cheep, Chirp.]
- chaw v. t.
- To grind with the teeth; to masticate, as food in eating; to chew, as the cud; to champ, as the bit. [See Chew.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- sheepfold n.
- A fold or pen for sheep; a place where sheep are collected or confined.
- thar v.
- It needs; need. Piers Plowman. [OE. thar, Þarf, AS. Þearf, infin. Þurfan to need; akin to OHG. durfan, G. dürfen to be allowed, Icel. Þurfa to need, Goth. Þaúrban.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Little Breeches 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, Little Breeches, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/little-breeches.html, id L21571.
Form and metre
Little Breeches is 56 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
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 religion · showA · sir · knowA · prophets · thingB · angels · springB
- 2 -A-A-B-B turnips · alongA · county · strongA · sassy · fightB · terbacker · whiteB
- 3 -A-A-B-B blanket · storeA · molasses · doorA · started · squallB · prairie · allB
- 4 -A-A-B-B prairie · skeerA · torches · nearA · wagon · moundB · gabe · foundB
- 5 -A-A me · aidA · bones · prayedA
- 6 -A-A out · parrA · sheepfold · tharA
- 7 -A-A-B-B shed · nightA · thar · whiteA · chirped · seeB · terbacker · meB
- 8 -A-A-B-B angels · stormA · him · warmA · child · ownB · business · throneB
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 don't go much on religion, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| I never ain't had no show; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But I've got a middlin' tight grip, sir, | 9 | ········· |
| On the handful o' things I know. | 8 | ··/····· |
| I don't pan out on the prophets | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And free-will, and that sort of thing,-- | 8 | ········ |
| But I b'lieve in God and the angels, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Ever sence one night last spring. | 7 | /˘····· |
| I come into town with some turnips, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And my little Gabe come along,-- | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| No four-year-old in the county | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Could beat him for pretty and strong, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Peart and chipper and sassy, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Always ready to swear and fight,-- | 8 | /·/˘···· |
| And I'd larnt him to chaw terbacker | 9 | ········· |
| Jest to keep his milk-teeth white. | 7 | ······· |
| The snow come down like a blanket | 8 | ······/˘ |
| As I passed by Taggart's store; | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| I went in for a jug of molasses | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| And left the team at the door. | 7 | ······· |
| They scared at something and started,-- | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| I heard one little squall, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And hell-to-split over the prairie | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Went team, Little Breeches and all. | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Hell-to-split over the prairie! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| I was almost froze with skeer; | 7 | ··/···· |
| But we rousted up some torches, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And searched for 'em far and near. | 8 | ··˘····· |
| At last we struck hosses and wagon, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Snowed under a soft white mound, | 8 | ·˘······ |
| Upsot, dead beat,--but of little Gabe | 9 | ······/˘· |
| No hide nor hair was found. | 6 | ······ |
| And here all hope soured on me, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Of my fellow-critters' aid,-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| I jest flopped down on my marrow-bones, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Crotch-deep in the snow, and prayed. | 8 | ·······˘ |
| By this, the torches was played out, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And me and Isrul Parr | 6 | ······ |
| Went off for some wood to a sheepfold | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That he said was somewhar thar. | 8 | ········ |
| We found it at last, and a little shed | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where they shut up the lambs at night. | 8 | ········ |
| We looked in and seen them huddled thar, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| So warm and sleepy and white; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And thar sot Little Breeches and chirped, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| As peart as ever you see, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| "I want a chaw of terbacker, | 8 | ········ |
| And that's what's the matter of me." | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| How did he git thar? Angels. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He could never have walked in that storm; | 8 | ··/····· |
| They jest scooped down and toted him | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To whar it was safe and warm. | 7 | ······· |
| And I think that saving a little child, | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| And fotching him to his own, | 7 | ······· |
| Is a derned sight better business | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Than loafing around The Throne. | 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.