A Romance
It was a merry company,And they were just afloat,When lo! a man, of dwarfish span,Came up and hailed the boat.
"Good morrow to ye, gentle folks,And will you let me in?A slender space will serve my case,For I am small and thin."
They saw he was a dwarfish man,And very small and thin;Not seven such would matter much,And so they took him in.
They laughed to see his little hat,With such a narrow brim;They laughed to note his dapper coat,With skirts so scant and trim.
But barely had they gone a mile,When, gravely, one and allAt once began to think the manWas not so very small:
His coat had got a broader skirt,His hat a broader brim;His leg grew stout, and soon plumped outA very proper limb.
Still on they went, and as they went,More rough the billows grew,--And rose and fell, a greater swell,And he was swelling too!
And lo! where room had been for seven,For six there scarce was space!For five!--for four!--for three!--not moreThan two could find a place!
There was not even room for one!They crowded by degrees--Ay--closer yet, till elbows met,And knees were jogging knees.
"Good sir, you must not sit a-stern,The wave will else come in!"Without a word he gravely stirred,Another seat to win.
"Good sir, the boat has lost her trim,You must not sit a-lee!"With smiling face and courteous grace,The middle seat took he.
But still, by constant quiet growth,His back became so wide,Each neighbor wight, to left and right,Was thrust against the side.
Lord! how they chided with themselves,That they had let him in;To see him grow so monstrous now,That came so small and thin.
On every brow a dewdrop stood,They grew so scared and hot,--"I' the name of all that's great and tall,Who are ye, sir, and what?"
Loud laughed the Gogmagog, a laughAs loud as giant's roar--"When first I came, my proper nameWas Little--now I'm Moore!"
Words in this poem
- afloat adv.
- Borne on the water; floating; on board ship. [Pref. a- + float.]
- dwarfish a.
- Like a dwarf; below the common stature or size; very small; petty; as, a dwarfish animal, shrub.
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- dapper a.
- Little and active; spruce; trim; smart; neat in dress or appearance; lively. [OE. daper; prob. fr. D. dapper brave, valiant; akin to G. tapfer brave, OHG. taphar heavy, weighty, OSlav. dobrû good, Russ. dobrui. Cf. Deft.]
- gravely adv.
- In a grave manner.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- jogging n.
- The act of giving a jog or jogs; traveling at a jog.
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Romance 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 Romance, 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-romance.html, id L20199.
Form and metre
A Romance is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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.
- 1 -A-A company · afloatA · span · boatA
- 2 -A-A folks · inA · case · thinA
- 3 AA-A manA · thinA · much · inA
- 4 -A-A hat · brimA · coat · trimA
- 5 -A-A mile · allA · man · smallA
- 6 -A-A skirt · brimA · out · limbA
- 7 -A-A went · grewA · swell · tooA
- 8 -A-A seven · spaceA · more · placeA
- 9 -A-A one · degreesA · met · kneesA
- 10 AA-A sternA · inA · stirred · winA
- 11 -A-A trim · leeA · grace · heA
- 12 -A-A growth · wideA · right · sideA
- 13 -A-A themselves · inA · now · thinA
- 15 -A-A laugh · roarA · name · mooreA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It was a merry company, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| And they were just afloat, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| When lo! a man, of dwarfish span, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Came up and hailed the boat. | 6 | ······ |
| "Good morrow to ye, gentle folks, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And will you let me in? | 6 | ······ |
| A slender space will serve my case, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For I am small and thin." | 6 | ······ |
| They saw he was a dwarfish man, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And very small and thin; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Not seven such would matter much, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And so they took him in. | 6 | ······ |
| They laughed to see his little hat, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With such a narrow brim; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| They laughed to note his dapper coat, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With skirts so scant and trim. | 6 | ······ |
| But barely had they gone a mile, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When, gravely, one and all | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| At once began to think the man | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Was not so very small: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| His coat had got a broader skirt, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His hat a broader brim; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| His leg grew stout, and soon plumped out | 8 | ········ |
| A very proper limb. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Still on they went, and as they went, | 8 | ········ |
| More rough the billows grew,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And rose and fell, a greater swell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And he was swelling too! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And lo! where room had been for seven, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For six there scarce was space! | 6 | ······ |
| For five!--for four!--for three!--not more | 8 | ········ |
| Than two could find a place! | 6 | ······ |
| There was not even room for one! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They crowded by degrees-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Ay--closer yet, till elbows met, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| And knees were jogging knees. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "Good sir, you must not sit a-stern, | 8 | ········ |
| The wave will else come in!" | 6 | ······ |
| Without a word he gravely stirred, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Another seat to win. | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| "Good sir, the boat has lost her trim, | 8 | ········ |
| You must not sit a-lee!" | 6 | ······ |
| With smiling face and courteous grace, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| The middle seat took he. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But still, by constant quiet growth, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His back became so wide, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Each neighbor wight, to left and right, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was thrust against the side. | 6 | ······ |
| Lord! how they chided with themselves, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That they had let him in; | 6 | ······ |
| To see him grow so monstrous now, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That came so small and thin. | 6 | ······ |
| On every brow a dewdrop stood, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| They grew so scared and hot,-- | 6 | ······ |
| "I' the name of all that's great and tall, | 9 | ········· |
| Who are ye, sir, and what?" | 6 | ······ |
| Loud laughed the Gogmagog, a laugh | 8 | ········ |
| As loud as giant's roar-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "When first I came, my proper name | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Was Little--now I'm Moore!" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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