Conveyancing
Oh, London is the place for allIn love with loco-motion!Still to and fro the people goLike billows of the ocean;Machine or man, or caravan,Can all be had for paying,When great estates, or heavy weights,Or bodies want conveying.
There’s always hacks about in packs,Wherein you may be shaken,And Jarvis is not always drunk,Tho’ always overtaken;In racing tricks he’ll never mix,His nags are in their last days,And slow to go, altho’ they showAs if they had their fast days!
Then if you like a single horse,This age is quite a cab-age,A car not quite so small and lightAs those of our Queen Mab age;The horses have been broken well,All danger is rescinded,For some have broken both their knees,And some are broken winded.
If you’ve a friend at Chelsea end,The stages are worth knowing--There is a sort, we call ’em short,Although the longest going--For some will stop at Hatchett’s shopTill you grow faint and sicky,Perched up behind, at last to findYour dinner is all dickey!
Long stages run from every yard;But if you’re wise and frugal,You’ll never go with any GuardThat plays upon the bugle,“Ye banks and braes,” and other lays,And ditties everlasting,Like miners going all your way,With boring and with blasting.
Instead of journeys, people nowMay go upon a Gurney,With steam to do the horses’ work,By powers of attorney;Tho’ with a load it may explode,And you may all be un-done!And find you’re going up to Heav’nInstead of up to London!
To speak of every kind of coach,It is not my intention;But there is still one vehicleDeserves a little mention;The world a sage has call’d a stage,With all its living lumber,And Malthus swears it always bearsAbove the proper number.
The law will transfer house or landFor ever and a day hence,For lighter things, watch, brooches, rings,You’ll never want conveyance:Ho! stop the thief! my handkerchief!It is no sight for laughter--Away it goes, and leaves my noseTo join in running after.
Words in this poem
- dickey n.
- A seat behind a carriage, for a servant.
- attorney n.
- A substitute; a proxy; an agent. [OE. aturneye, OF. atorné, p. p. of atorner: cf. LL. atturnatus, attornatus, fr. attornare. See Attorn.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Conveyancing is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Comic Poems of Thomas Hood A New and Complete Edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #56712; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, Conveyancing, in Poems (1827–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56712, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poems/conveyancing.html, id L06889.
Form and metre
Conveyancing is 64 lines in 8 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.5 syllables. 26 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-AAB-B all · motionA · go · oceanA · caravanA · payingB · weights · conveyingB
- 2 -A-A-B-B packs · shakenA · drunk · overtakenA · mix · daysB · show · daysB
- 3 -A-A-B-B horse · ageA · light · ageA · well · rescindedB · knees · windedB
- 4 -A-A-B-B end · knowingA · short · goingA · shop · sickyB · find · dickeyB
- 5 ABAB-C-C yardA · frugalB · guardA · bugleB · lays · everlastingC · way · blastingC
- 6 -A-A-B-B now · gurneyA · work · attorneyA · explode · doneB · heav'n · londonB
- 7 -----A-A coach · intention · vehicle · mention · stage · lumberA · bears · numberA
- 8 -A-A-B-B land · henceA · rings · conveyanceA · handkerchief · laughterB · nose · afterB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, London is the place for all | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In love with loco-motion! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Still to and fro the people go | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Like billows of the ocean; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Machine or man, or caravan, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Can all be had for paying, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| When great estates, or heavy weights, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Or bodies want conveying. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| There’s always hacks about in packs, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Wherein you may be shaken, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And Jarvis is not always drunk, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Tho’ always overtaken; | 7 | ·/·/˘·˘ |
| In racing tricks he’ll never mix, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His nags are in their last days, | 7 | ······· |
| And slow to go, altho’ they show | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| As if they had their fast days! | 7 | ······· |
| Then if you like a single horse, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This age is quite a cab-age, | 7 | ······· |
| A car not quite so small and light | 8 | ········ |
| As those of our Queen Mab age; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The horses have been broken well, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All danger is rescinded, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| For some have broken both their knees, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And some are broken winded. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| If you’ve a friend at Chelsea end, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The stages are worth knowing-- | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| There is a sort, we call ’em short, | 8 | ········ |
| Although the longest going-- | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| For some will stop at Hatchett’s shop | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Till you grow faint and sicky, | 7 | ······· |
| Perched up behind, at last to find | 8 | ········ |
| Your dinner is all dickey! | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Long stages run from every yard; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But if you’re wise and frugal, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| You’ll never go with any Guard | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That plays upon the bugle, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “Ye banks and braes,” and other lays, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And ditties everlasting, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Like miners going all your way, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With boring and with blasting. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Instead of journeys, people now | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| May go upon a Gurney, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With steam to do the horses’ work, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By powers of attorney; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Tho’ with a load it may explode, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And you may all be un-done! | 7 | ······· |
| And find you’re going up to Heav’n | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Instead of up to London! | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| To speak of every kind of coach, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It is not my intention; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| But there is still one vehicle | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Deserves a little mention; | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| The world a sage has call’d a stage, | 8 | ········ |
| With all its living lumber, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And Malthus swears it always bears | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Above the proper number. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The law will transfer house or land | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| For ever and a day hence, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| For lighter things, watch, brooches, rings, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| You’ll never want conveyance: | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Ho! stop the thief! my handkerchief! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| It is no sight for laughter-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Away it goes, and leaves my nose | 8 | ˘/······ |
| To join in running after. | 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.