Written Under the Fear of Bailiffs
Alas! of all the noxious thingsThat wait upon the poor,Most cruel is that Felon-FearThat haunts the “Debtor’s Door!”
Saint Sepulchre’s begins to toll,The Sheriffs seek the cell--So I expect their officers,And tremble at the bell!
I look for beer, and yet I quakeWith fright at every tap;And dread a double-knock, for oh!I’ve not a single rap!
Words in this poem
- expect v. t.
- To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written Under the Fear of Bailiffs 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, Written Under the Fear of Bailiffs, in Poems (1827–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56712, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poems/written-under-the-fear-of-bailiffs.html, id L06805.
Form and metre
Written Under the Fear of Bailiffs is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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.
- 2 -A-A toll · cellA · officers · bellA
- 3 -A-A quake · tapA · oh · rapA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Alas! of all the noxious things | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| That wait upon the poor, | 6 | ······ |
| Most cruel is that Felon-Fear | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That haunts the “Debtor’s Door!” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Saint Sepulchre’s begins to toll, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| The Sheriffs seek the cell-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| So I expect their officers, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| And tremble at the bell! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I look for beer, and yet I quake | 8 | ········ |
| With fright at every tap; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And dread a double-knock, for oh! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I’ve not a single rap! | 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.