A Lay of Real Life
Who ruined me ere I was born,Sold every acre, grass or corn,And left the next heir all forlorn?My Grandfather.
Who said my mother was no nurse.And physicked me and made me worse,Till infancy became a curse?My Grandmother.
Who left me in my seventh year,A comfort to my mother dear,And Mr. Pope, the overseer?My Father.
Who let me starve, to buy her gin,Till all my bones came through my skin,Then called me "ugly little sin?"My Mother.
Who said my mother was a Turk,And took me home--and made me work,But managed half my meals to shirk?My Aunt.
Who "of all earthly things" would boast,"He hated others' brats the most,"And therefore made me feel my post?My Uncle.
Who got in scrapes, an endless score,And always laid them at my door,Till many a bitter bang I bore?My Cousin.
Who took me home when mother died,Again with father to reside,Black shoes, clean knives, run far and wide?My Stepmother.
Who marred my stealthy urchin joysAnd when I played cried "What a noise?"--Girls always hector over boys--My Sister.
Who used to share in what was mine,Or took it all, did he incline,'Cause I was eight, and he was nine?My Brother.
Who stroked my head, and said "Good lad,"And gave me sixpence, "all he had";But at the stall the coin was bad?My Godfather.
Who, gratis, shared, my social glass,But when misfortune came to pass,Referr'd me to the pump? Alas!My Friend.
Through all this weary world, in brief,Who ever sympathized with grief,Or shared my joy--my sole relief?Myself.
Words in this poem
- acre n.
- Any field of arable or pasture land. [OE. aker, AS. æcer; akin to OS. accar, OHG. achar, Ger. acker, Icel. akr, Sw. åker, Dan. ager, Goth. akrs, L. ager, Gr. ajra. *2, 206.]
- 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]
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
- gratis adv.
- For nothing; without fee or recompense; freely; gratuitously. [L., contr. fr. gratiis out of favor or kindness, without recompense, for nothing, fr. gratia favor. See Grace.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Lay of Real Life is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; 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, A Lay of Real Life, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/a-lay-of-real-life.html, id L20168.
Form and metre
A Lay of Real Life is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AAA- bornA · cornA · forlornA · grandfather
- 2 AAA- nurseA · worseA · curseA · grandmother
- 3 AA-- yearA · dearA · overseer · father
- 4 AAA- ginA · skinA · sinA · mother
- 5 AAA- turkA · workA · shirkA · aunt
- 6 AAA- boastA · mostA · postA · uncle
- 7 AAA- scoreA · doorA · boreA · cousin
- 8 AAA- diedA · resideA · wideA · stepmother
- 9 AAA- joysA · noiseA · boysA · sister
- 10 AAA- mineA · inclineA · nineA · brother
- 11 AAA- ladA · hadA · badA · godfather
- 12 AAA- glassA · passA · alasA · friend
- 13 AAA- briefA · griefA · reliefA · myself
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Who ruined me ere I was born, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Sold every acre, grass or corn, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And left the next heir all forlorn? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My Grandfather. | 4 | ·/·˘ |
| Who said my mother was no nurse. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And physicked me and made me worse, | 8 | ········ |
| Till infancy became a curse? | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| My Grandmother. | 4 | ·/·˘ |
| Who left me in my seventh year, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A comfort to my mother dear, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Mr. Pope, the overseer? | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| My Father. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Who let me starve, to buy her gin, | 8 | ········ |
| Till all my bones came through my skin, | 8 | ········ |
| Then called me "ugly little sin?" | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| My Mother. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Who said my mother was a Turk, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And took me home--and made me work, | 8 | ········ |
| But managed half my meals to shirk? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My Aunt. | 2 | ·· |
| Who "of all earthly things" would boast, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "He hated others' brats the most," | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And therefore made me feel my post? | 8 | ········ |
| My Uncle. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Who got in scrapes, an endless score, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And always laid them at my door, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Till many a bitter bang I bore? | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| My Cousin. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Who took me home when mother died, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Again with father to reside, | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Black shoes, clean knives, run far and wide? | 8 | ········ |
| My Stepmother. | 4 | ·/·˘ |
| Who marred my stealthy urchin joys | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And when I played cried "What a noise?"-- | 8 | ········ |
| Girls always hector over boys-- | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| My Sister. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Who used to share in what was mine, | 8 | ········ |
| Or took it all, did he incline, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'Cause I was eight, and he was nine? | 8 | ········ |
| My Brother. | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Who stroked my head, and said "Good lad," | 8 | ········ |
| And gave me sixpence, "all he had"; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But at the stall the coin was bad? | 8 | ········ |
| My Godfather. | 4 | ·/·˘ |
| Who, gratis, shared, my social glass, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But when misfortune came to pass, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Referr'd me to the pump? Alas! | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| My Friend. | 2 | ·· |
| Through all this weary world, in brief, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who ever sympathized with grief, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or shared my joy--my sole relief? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Myself. | 2 | ·/ |
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