Colin
"Phoo! phoo! You're nothing near the thing!You only argy in a ring;'Cause why? You never cares to look,Like me, in any larned book;But schollards know the wrong and rightOf every thing in black and white.
"Well, Farming, that's its common name,And Agriculture be the same:So put your Farming first, and nextDistress, and there you have your text.But here the question comes to press,What farming be, and what's distress?Why, farming is to plough and sow,Weed, harrow, harvest, reap, and mow,Thrash, winnow, sell,--and buy and breedThe proper stock to fat and feed.Distress is want, and pain, and grief,And sickness,--things as wants relief;Thirst, hunger, age, and cold severe;In short, ax any overseer,--Well, now, the logic for to chop,Where's the distress about a crop?"
"There's no distress in keeping sheep,I likes to see 'em frisk and leap;There's no distress in seeing swineGrow up to pork and bacon fine;There's no distress in growing wheatAnd grass for men or beasts to eat;And making of lean cattle fat,There's no distress, of course, in that.Then what remains?--But one thing more,And that's the Farming of the Poor!"
Words in this poem
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Colin 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, Colin, 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/colin.html, id L20177.
Form and metre
Colin is 32 lines in 3 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 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 AABBCC thingA · ringA · lookB · bookB · rightC · whiteC
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF--GG nameA · sameA · nextB · textB · pressC · distressC · sowD · mowD · breedE · feedE · griefF · reliefF · severe · overseer · chopG · cropG
- 3 AABBCCDD-- sheepA · leapA · swineB · fineB · wheatC · eatC · fatD · thatD · more · poor
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Phoo! phoo! You're nothing near the thing! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You only argy in a ring; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'Cause why? You never cares to look, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like me, in any larned book; | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| But schollards know the wrong and right | 8 | ········ |
| Of every thing in black and white. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Well, Farming, that's its common name, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Agriculture be the same: | 8 | ·/˘·˘··· |
| So put your Farming first, and next | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Distress, and there you have your text. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| But here the question comes to press, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What farming be, and what's distress? | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Why, farming is to plough and sow, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Weed, harrow, harvest, reap, and mow, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thrash, winnow, sell,--and buy and breed | 8 | ·/······ |
| The proper stock to fat and feed. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Distress is want, and pain, and grief, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And sickness,--things as wants relief; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Thirst, hunger, age, and cold severe; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| In short, ax any overseer,-- | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Well, now, the logic for to chop, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where's the distress about a crop?" | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "There's no distress in keeping sheep, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| I likes to see 'em frisk and leap; | 8 | ········ |
| There's no distress in seeing swine | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Grow up to pork and bacon fine; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There's no distress in growing wheat | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And grass for men or beasts to eat; | 8 | ········ |
| And making of lean cattle fat, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| There's no distress, of course, in that. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Then what remains?--But one thing more, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And that's the Farming of the Poor!" | 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.