Domestic Asides; Or, Truth in Parentheses
"I really take it very kind,This visit, Mrs. Skinner!I have not seen you such an age--(The wretch has come to dinner!)
"Your daughters, too, what loves of girls--What heads for painters' easels!Come here and kiss the infant, dears--(And give it p'rhaps the measles!)
"Your charming boys I see are homeFrom Reverend Mr. Russell's;'Twas very kind to bring them both--(What boots for my new Brussels!)
"What! little Clara left at home?Well now I call that shabby:I should have loved to kiss her so--(A flabby, dabby, babby!)
"And Mr. S., I hope he's well,Ah! though he lives so handy,He never now drops in to sup--(The better for our brandy!)
"Come, take a seat--I long to hearAbout Matilda's marriage;You're come of course to spend the day!(Thank Heaven, I hear the carriage!)
"What! must you go? next time I hopeYou'll give me longer measure;Nay--I shall see you down the stairs--(With most uncommon pleasure!)
"Good-bye! good-bye! remember all,Next time you'll take your dinners!(Now, David, mind I'm not at homeIn future to the Skinners!")
Words in this poem
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- shabby a.
- Torn or worn to rage; poor; mean; ragged. [See Shab, n., Scabby, and Scab.]
- handy a.
- Performed by the hand. [OE. hendi, AS. hendig (in comp.), fr. hand hand; akin to D. handig, Goth. handugs clever, wise.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Domestic Asides; Or, Truth in Parentheses 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, Domestic Asides; Or, Truth in Parentheses, 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/domestic-asides-or-truth-in-parentheses.html, id L20203.
Form and metre
Domestic Asides; Or, Truth in Parentheses is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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-A kind · skinnerA · age · dinnerA
- 2 AA-A girlsA · easelsA · dears · measlesA
- 3 -A-A home · russell'sA · both · brusselsA
- 4 -A-A home · shabbyA · so · babbyA
- 5 -A-A well · handyA · sup · brandyA
- 7 -A-A hope · measureA · stairs · pleasureA
- 8 -A-A all · dinnersA · home · skinnersA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "I really take it very kind, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| This visit, Mrs. Skinner! | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| I have not seen you such an age-- | 8 | ········ |
| (The wretch has come to dinner!) | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "Your daughters, too, what loves of girls-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What heads for painters' easels! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Come here and kiss the infant, dears-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (And give it p'rhaps the measles!) | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "Your charming boys I see are home | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| From Reverend Mr. Russell's; | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| 'Twas very kind to bring them both-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (What boots for my new Brussels!) | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| "What! little Clara left at home? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Well now I call that shabby: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I should have loved to kiss her so-- | 8 | ········ |
| (A flabby, dabby, babby!) | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| "And Mr. S., I hope he's well, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ah! though he lives so handy, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He never now drops in to sup-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| (The better for our brandy!) | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| "Come, take a seat--I long to hear | 8 | ········ |
| About Matilda's marriage; | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| You're come of course to spend the day! | 8 | ········ |
| (Thank Heaven, I hear the carriage!) | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| "What! must you go? next time I hope | 8 | ········ |
| You'll give me longer measure; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Nay--I shall see you down the stairs-- | 8 | ········ |
| (With most uncommon pleasure!) | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| "Good-bye! good-bye! remember all, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Next time you'll take your dinners! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| (Now, David, mind I'm not at home | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In future to the Skinners!") | 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.