Runo XXIV
"And now I'd better sing a little song:As they passed in our street,A man besought his wife,'Why don't you look pleasant?You are my delight,Darling Mashenka.'
"But the woman was obstinate,And averted her little head;'Oh, I don't want your caresses,Nor your pretty speeches;I'm not very well,And I've got a headache.'
"But under a birch treeThe man taught his wife;'Wait a bit, my darling,I'll beat that tune out of you.In my own way.'
"Then the woman was sorry,Bowed low as the waistband.'Don't frighten yourself, dearest,And do not be troubled,I find myself better,My headache has gone.'"
Words in this poem
- averted a.
- Turned away, esp. as an expression of feeling; also, offended; unpropitious.
- waistband n.
- The band which encompasses the waist; esp., one on the upper part of breeches, trousers, pantaloons, skirts, or the like.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Runo XXIV is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Kalevala, Project Gutenberg ebook #25953, the W. F. Kirby translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Elias Lönnrot, Runo XXIV, in The Kalevala (1907), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25953, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kalevala/runo-xxiv.html, id L14255.
Form and metre
Runo XXIV is 23 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic 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.
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "And now I'd better sing a little song: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| As they passed in our street, | 8 | ···˘·/˘· |
| A man besought his wife, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| 'Why don't you look pleasant? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| You are my delight, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Darling Mashenka.' | 5 | /˘··· |
| "But the woman was obstinate, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘˘ |
| And averted her little head; | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
| 'Oh, I don't want your caresses, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Nor your pretty speeches; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| I'm not very well, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| And I've got a headache.' | 6 | ····/· |
| "But under a birch tree | 6 | ······ |
| The man taught his wife; | 5 | ····· |
| 'Wait a bit, my darling, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| I'll beat that tune out of you. | 7 | ······· |
| In my own way.' | 4 | ···· |
| "Then the woman was sorry, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Bowed low as the waistband. | 7 | ·˘···/˘ |
| 'Don't frighten yourself, dearest, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| And do not be troubled, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| I find myself better, | 6 | ···//˘ |
| My headache has gone.'" | 5 | ·/··· |
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.