The Tinkler’s Baloo
Haud yer whisht, my mannie,Hide yer heid the noo,There’s a jimp young mune i’ the branches abuneAn’ she’s keekin’ at me an’ you.Near she is to settin’,Waukin’ she shouldna be,An’ mebbe she sees i’ the loan by the treesOwre muckle for you an’ me.
Dinna cry on Daddie,Daddie’s by the fairm,There’s a specklie hen that strays i’ the denAn’ he’s fear’d she may come to hairm.Thieves is bauld an’ mony,That’s what guid fowk say,An’ they’d a’ complain gin the limmer was ta’enAn’ cheughit afore it’s day.
Sleep, an’ then, come Sawbath,A feather o’ gray ye’ll getWi’ specklies on it to set i’ yer bonnetAn’ gar ye look brawer yet.Sae hide yer heid, my mannie,Haud yer whisht, my doo,For we’ll hae to shift or the sun’s i’ the liftAn’ I’m singin’ baloo, baloo!
Words in this poem
- jimp a.
- Neat; handsome; elegant. See Gimp. [Cf. Gimp, a.]
- limmer a.
- Limber. Holland.
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tinkler’s Baloo 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, The Tinkler’s Baloo, in Bonnie Joann, and Other Poems (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #69484, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacob-bonnie-joann/the-tinkler-s-baloo.html, id L21948.
Form and metre
The Tinkler’s Baloo is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 mannie · noo · abune · you · settin · beA · trees · meA
- 2 -A-A-B-B daddie · fairmA · den · hairmA · mony · sayB · ta'en · dayB
- 3 -AAA-B-B sawbath · getA · bonnetA · yetA · mannie · dooB · lift · balooB
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Haud yer whisht, my mannie, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Hide yer heid the noo, | 5 | ····· |
| There’s a jimp young mune i’ the branches abune | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| An’ she’s keekin’ at me an’ you. | 8 | ········ |
| Near she is to settin’, | 6 | ······ |
| Waukin’ she shouldna be, | 6 | ······ |
| An’ mebbe she sees i’ the loan by the trees | 10 | ·········· |
| Owre muckle for you an’ me. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Dinna cry on Daddie, | 6 | ······ |
| Daddie’s by the fairm, | 5 | /˘··· |
| There’s a specklie hen that strays i’ the den | 10 | ·········· |
| An’ he’s fear’d she may come to hairm. | 8 | ········ |
| Thieves is bauld an’ mony, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| That’s what guid fowk say, | 5 | ····· |
| An’ they’d a’ complain gin the limmer was ta’en | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| An’ cheughit afore it’s day. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Sleep, an’ then, come Sawbath, | 6 | ······ |
| A feather o’ gray ye’ll get | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Wi’ specklies on it to set i’ yer bonnet | 10 | ········/˘ |
| An’ gar ye look brawer yet. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sae hide yer heid, my mannie, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Haud yer whisht, my doo, | 5 | ····· |
| For we’ll hae to shift or the sun’s i’ the lift | 11 | ··········· |
| An’ I’m singin’ baloo, baloo! | 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.