In Memory Sir Godfrey Beane
The while he gazed in thought sereneA little ghost of humble mien,Unkempt and crooked, bent and spare,Accosted him with cringing air:“Most noble sir, ’t is plain to seeYou are not of the likes of me;You are a spook of high degree.”“My good man,” cried J. Wentworth B.,“Leave me a little while, I pray,I’ve travelled very far to-day,And I desire to be aloneWith him who sleeps beneath this stone.I cannot rest till I have seenMy ancestor, Sir Godfrey Beane.”
“Your ancestor! How can that be?”Exclaimed the little ghost, “when he,Last of his line, was drowned at seaTwo hundred years ago; this stoneIs to his memory alone.I, and I only, saw his end.As he, my master and my friend,Leaned o’er the vessel’s side one nightI pushed him--no, it was not right,I own that I was much to blame;I donned his clothes, and took the nameOf Beane--I also took his gold,About five thousand pounds all told;And so to Boston, Mass., I cameTo found a family and name--I, who in former times had beenSir Godfrey’s--”“Wretch, what do you mean!Sir Godfrey’s what?” gasped Wentworth Beane.“Sir Godfrey’s valet!”
That same night,When the ghost steamer sailed, you mightAmong the passengers have seenA ghost of very abject mien,Faded and shrunk, forlorn and frayed,
The shadow of his former shade,Who registered in steerage class,J. W. Beane of Boston, Mass.
Now, gentle reader, do not tryTo guess the family which IDisguise as Beane--enough that theyExist on Beacon Hill to-day,In sweet enjoyment of their claims--It is not well to mention names.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- unkempt a.
- Not combed; disheveled; as, an urchin with unkempt hair. [Pref. un- not + kempt, p. p. of kemb.]
- accosted a.
- Supported on both sides by other charges; also, side by side.
- spook n.
- A spirit; a ghost; an apparition; a hobgoblin. Ld. Lytton. [D. spook; akin to G. spuk, Sw. spöke, Dan. spögelse a specter, spöge to play, sport, joke, spög a play, joke.]
- valet n.
- A male waiting servant; a servant who attends on gentleman's person; a body servant. [F. valet, OF. vallet, varlet, vaslet. See Varlet, and Vassal.]
- abject a.
- Cast down; low-lying. [L. abjectus, p. p. of abjicere to throw away; ab + jacere to throw. See Jet a shooting forth.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- steerage n.
- The act or practice of steering, or directing; as, the steerage of a ship.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Memory Sir Godfrey Beane is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bashful Earthquake, & Other Fables and Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #56765; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Herford, In Memory Sir Godfrey Beane, in The Bashful Earthquake, and Other Fables and Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56765, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herford-bashful-earthquake/in-memory-sir-godfrey-beane.html, id L22134.
Form and metre
In Memory Sir Godfrey Beane is 48 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCCCDDEEAA sereneA · mienA · spareB · airB · seeC · meC · degreeC · bC · prayD · dayD · aloneE · stoneE · seenA · beaneA
- 2 AAABBCCDDEEFFEE--GG- beA · heA · seaA · stoneB · aloneB · endC · friendC · nightD · rightD · blameE · nameE · goldF · toldF · cameE · nameE · been · godfrey's · meanG · beaneG · valet
- 3 AABB- nightA · mightA · seenB · mienB · frayed
- 4 -AA shade · classA · massA
- 5 AABBCC tryA · iA · theyB · dayB · claimsC · namesC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The while he gazed in thought serene | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A little ghost of humble mien, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Unkempt and crooked, bent and spare, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Accosted him with cringing air: | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| “Most noble sir, ’t is plain to see | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| You are not of the likes of me; | 8 | ········ |
| You are a spook of high degree.” | 8 | ······˘/ |
| “My good man,” cried J. Wentworth B., | 8 | ·····//· |
| “Leave me a little while, I pray, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I’ve travelled very far to-day, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And I desire to be alone | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| With him who sleeps beneath this stone. | 8 | ········ |
| I cannot rest till I have seen | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My ancestor, Sir Godfrey Beane.” | 8 | ·/·˘·/˘· |
| “Your ancestor! How can that be?” | 8 | ·/·˘···· |
| Exclaimed the little ghost, “when he, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Last of his line, was drowned at sea | 8 | ········ |
| Two hundred years ago; this stone | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Is to his memory alone. | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| I, and I only, saw his end. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As he, my master and my friend, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Leaned o’er the vessel’s side one night | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I pushed him--no, it was not right, | 8 | ········ |
| I own that I was much to blame; | 8 | ········ |
| I donned his clothes, and took the name | 8 | ········ |
| Of Beane--I also took his gold, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| About five thousand pounds all told; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And so to Boston, Mass., I came | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To found a family and name-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| I, who in former times had been | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sir Godfrey’s--” | 3 | ·/˘ |
| “Wretch, what do you mean! | 5 | ····· |
| Sir Godfrey’s what?” gasped Wentworth Beane. | 8 | ·/˘··//· |
| “Sir Godfrey’s valet!” | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
| That same night, | 3 | ··· |
| When the ghost steamer sailed, you might | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Among the passengers have seen | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| A ghost of very abject mien, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Faded and shrunk, forlorn and frayed, | 8 | /˘··˘/·· |
| The shadow of his former shade, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Who registered in steerage class, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| J. W. Beane of Boston, Mass. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Now, gentle reader, do not try | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To guess the family which I | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Disguise as Beane--enough that they | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Exist on Beacon Hill to-day, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| In sweet enjoyment of their claims-- | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| It is not well to mention names. | 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.