Adam
Ye’re richt weel buskit, yer poke is fu’,Ye ride i’ yer ain machine;’Twould tak a fule to hae words wi’ youAn’ no ken the gowk he’s been.
At rowp or preachin’ the best ye’ll hae,This warld or the neist ane’s gear,The breist o’ the laft on a Sawbath day,Or a seat by the auctioneer.
Ye’re no jist auld an’ ye arena young,But it doesna affec’ the case,For I’m aye that fear’d o’ a wumman’s tongueThat I’m like to forget her face.
An’ fowk says “Donal’, ye’re forty past,I doot she’ll be fifty-three,But ye maun settle yersel’ at lastThat hasna a spare bawbee.
Oh, youth’s a ploy, but it winna bideAnd a body’s gettin’ on--What ails ye, man, at a thrifty brideWi’ a dandy bit hoose like yon?”
Them’s wise-like bodies I hae to thankAnd mebbe they’re no far wrang;But whiles ye’ll step frae a creakin’ plankAn’ doon i’ the glaur ye’ll gang!
It’s warm, thae nichts, i’ the auld King’s Heid;What better can ye desireThan a lass to bring ye the dram ye needAn’ yer billies aroond the fire?
An’ wha is’t redes me to tak’ a wife?A puckle o’ single men!No ane, I’m thinkin’, wad risk his lifeWi’ a jaud that he disna ken!
I’ll wish ye luck an’ a braw guidman,And weel may ye baith agree,But I’m no seekin’ ye, Maggie-Ann,And I doot that he’ll no be me!
Words in this poem
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
- gowk v. t.
- To make a, booby of one); to stupefy. B. Jonson. [See Gawk.]
- auctioneer n.
- A person who sells by auction; a person whose business it is to dispose of goods or lands by public sale to the highest or best bidder.
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- bawbee n.
- A halfpenny. [Spelt also baubee.] [Perh. corrupt. fr. halfpenny.]
- ploy v. i.
- To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision; -- the opposite of deploy. Wilhelm. [Prob. abbrev. fr. deploy.]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- 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; -]
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Adam is in the public domain. This text is taken from Bonnie Joann, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #69484; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Violet Jacob, Adam, in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/adam.html, id L21936.
Form and metre
Adam is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
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- fuA · machine · youA · been
- 2 -A-A hae · gearA · day · auctioneerA
- 3 ABAB youngA · caseB · tongueA · faceB
- 4 ABAB pastA · threeB · lastA · bawbeeB
- 5 ABAB bideA · onB · brideA · yonB
- 6 ABAB thankA · wrangB · plankA · gangB
- 7 -A-A heid · desireA · need · fireA
- 8 ABAB wifeA · menB · lifeA · kenB
- 9 -A-A guidman · agreeA · ann · meA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ye’re richt weel buskit, yer poke is fu’, | 9 | ········· |
| Ye ride i’ yer ain machine; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| ’Twould tak a fule to hae words wi’ you | 10 | ·········· |
| An’ no ken the gowk he’s been. | 7 | ······· |
| At rowp or preachin’ the best ye’ll hae, | 9 | ········· |
| This warld or the neist ane’s gear, | 7 | ······· |
| The breist o’ the laft on a Sawbath day, | 10 | ·········· |
| Or a seat by the auctioneer. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ye’re no jist auld an’ ye arena young, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| But it doesna affec’ the case, | 8 | ········ |
| For I’m aye that fear’d o’ a wumman’s tongue | 10 | ·········· |
| That I’m like to forget her face. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| An’ fowk says “Donal’, ye’re forty past, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I doot she’ll be fifty-three, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But ye maun settle yersel’ at last | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| That hasna a spare bawbee. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Oh, youth’s a ploy, but it winna bide | 9 | ········· |
| And a body’s gettin’ on-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| What ails ye, man, at a thrifty bride | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Wi’ a dandy bit hoose like yon?” | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Them’s wise-like bodies I hae to thank | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And mebbe they’re no far wrang; | 6 | ······ |
| But whiles ye’ll step frae a creakin’ plank | 9 | ········· |
| An’ doon i’ the glaur ye’ll gang! | 7 | ······· |
| It’s warm, thae nichts, i’ the auld King’s Heid; | 9 | ········· |
| What better can ye desire | 8 | ·/˘··˘/˘ |
| Than a lass to bring ye the dram ye need | 10 | ·········· |
| An’ yer billies aroond the fire? | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| An’ wha is’t redes me to tak’ a wife? | 9 | ········· |
| A puckle o’ single men! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| No ane, I’m thinkin’, wad risk his life | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Wi’ a jaud that he disna ken! | 8 | ········ |
| I’ll wish ye luck an’ a braw guidman, | 9 | ········· |
| And weel may ye baith agree, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| But I’m no seekin’ ye, Maggie-Ann, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And I doot that he’ll no be me! | 8 | ········ |
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