Hob
"That's nothin yet, to Tom's mishap!A-gooing through the yard, poor chap,Only to fetch his milking-pails,When up he shies like head or tails;Nor would the Bull let Tom a-be,Till he had toss'd the best o' three;--And there lies Tom with broken bones,A surgeon's job for Doctor Jones;Well, Doctor Jones lays down the law,'There's two crackt ribs, besides a jaw,--Eat well,' says he, 'stuff out your case,For that will keep the ribs in place;'But how was Tom, poor chap, to chaw,Seeing as how he'd broke his jaw?That's summut to the pint--yes, yes,That's Hagricultural Distress!"
Words in this poem
- mishap v. i.
- To happen unluckily; -- used impersonally.
- chaw v. t.
- To grind with the teeth; to masticate, as food in eating; to chew, as the cud; to champ, as the bit. [See Chew.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hob 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, Hob, 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/hob.html, id L20175.
Form and metre
Hob is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFEEGG mishapA · chapA · pailsB · tailsB · beC · threeC · bonesD · jonesD · lawE · jawE · caseF · placeF · chawE · jawE · yesG · distressG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "That's nothin yet, to Tom's mishap! | 8 | ·/˘···/· |
| A-gooing through the yard, poor chap, | 7 | ······· |
| Only to fetch his milking-pails, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| When up he shies like head or tails; | 8 | ········ |
| Nor would the Bull let Tom a-be, | 8 | ········ |
| Till he had toss'd the best o' three;-- | 8 | ········ |
| And there lies Tom with broken bones, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A surgeon's job for Doctor Jones; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Well, Doctor Jones lays down the law, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'There's two crackt ribs, besides a jaw,-- | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Eat well,' says he, 'stuff out your case, | 8 | ········ |
| For that will keep the ribs in place;' | 8 | ········ |
| But how was Tom, poor chap, to chaw, | 8 | ········ |
| Seeing as how he'd broke his jaw? | 8 | /˘······ |
| That's summut to the pint--yes, yes, | 8 | ········ |
| That's Hagricultural Distress!" | 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.