Old Mother Laidinwool
'Old Mother Laidinwool had nigh twelve months been dead.She heard the hops was doing well, an' so popped up her head,'For said she: 'The lads I've picked with when I was young and fair,They're bound to be at hopping and I'm bound to meet 'em there!'
Let me up and goBack to the work I know, Lord!Back to the work I know, Lord!For it's dark where I lie down, My Lord!An' it's dark where I lie down!
Old Mother Laidinwool, she give her bones a shake,An' trotted down the churchyard path as fast as she could make.She met the Parson walking, but she says to him, says she:'Oh don't let no one trouble for a poor old ghost like me!'
'Twas all a warm September an' the hops had flourished grand,She saw the folks get into 'em with stockin's on their hands;An' none of 'em was foreigners but all which she had known,And old Mother Laidinwool she blessed 'em every one.
She saw her daughters picking, an' their children them beside,An' she moved among the babies an' she stilled 'em when they cried.She saw their clothes was bought, not begged, an' they was clean an' fat,An' old Mother Laidinwool she thanked the Lord for that.
Old Mother Laidinwool she waited on all dayUntil it come too dark to see an' people went away--Until it come too dark to see an' lights began to show,An' old Mother Laidinwool she hadn't where to go.
Old Mother Laidinwool she give her bones a shake,An' trotted back to churchyard-mould as fast as she could make.She went where she was bidden to an' there laid down her ghost, ...An' the Lord have mercy on you in the Day you need it most!
Let me in again,Out of the wet an' rain, Lord!Out of the dark an rain, Lord!For it's best as you shall say, My Lord!An' it's best as you shall say!
Words in this poem
- churchyard n.
- The ground adjoining a church, in which the dead are buried; a cemetery.
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- 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
Old Mother Laidinwool is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs from Books, Project Gutenberg ebook #15529; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rudyard Kipling, Old Mother Laidinwool, in Songs from Books (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15529, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kipling-songs-from-books/old-mother-laidinwool.html, id L20379.
Form and metre
Old Mother Laidinwool is 34 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABB deadA · headA · fairB · thereB
- 2 -AAA- go · lordA · lordA · lordA · down
- 3 AABB shakeA · makeA · sheB · meB
- 5 AABB besideA · criedA · fatB · thatB
- 6 AABB dayA · awayA · showB · goB
- 7 AABB shakeA · makeA · ghostB · mostB
- 8 -AAA- again · lordA · lordA · lordA · say
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'Old Mother Laidinwool had nigh twelve months been dead. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| She heard the hops was doing well, an' so popped up her head,' | 13 | ·····/······· |
| For said she: 'The lads I've picked with when I was young and fair, | 14 | ·············· |
| They're bound to be at hopping and I'm bound to meet 'em there!' | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| Let me up and go | 5 | ····· |
| Back to the work I know, Lord! | 7 | ······· |
| Back to the work I know, Lord! | 7 | ······· |
| For it's dark where I lie down, My Lord! | 9 | ········· |
| An' it's dark where I lie down! | 7 | ······· |
| Old Mother Laidinwool, she give her bones a shake, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| An' trotted down the churchyard path as fast as she could make. | 14 | ·/˘··/········ |
| She met the Parson walking, but she says to him, says she: | 14 | ···/˘/˘······· |
| 'Oh don't let no one trouble for a poor old ghost like me!' | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| 'Twas all a warm September an' the hops had flourished grand, | 14 | ····˘/˘····/˘· |
| She saw the folks get into 'em with stockin's on their hands; | 14 | ·············· |
| An' none of 'em was foreigners but all which she had known, | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And old Mother Laidinwool she blessed 'em every one. | 13 | ··/˘······/˘· |
| She saw her daughters picking, an' their children them beside, | 14 | ···/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| An' she moved among the babies an' she stilled 'em when they cried. | 15 | ······/˘······· |
| She saw their clothes was bought, not begged, an' they was clean an' fat, | 14 | ·············· |
| An' old Mother Laidinwool she thanked the Lord for that. | 13 | ··/˘········· |
| Old Mother Laidinwool she waited on all day | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| Until it come too dark to see an' people went away-- | 14 | ·········/˘·˘/ |
| Until it come too dark to see an' lights began to show, | 14 | ··········˘/·· |
| An' old Mother Laidinwool she hadn't where to go. | 13 | ··/˘····/˘··· |
| Old Mother Laidinwool she give her bones a shake, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| An' trotted back to churchyard-mould as fast as she could make. | 14 | ·/˘··/········ |
| She went where she was bidden to an' there laid down her ghost, ... | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| An' the Lord have mercy on you in the Day you need it most! | 15 | ····/˘········· |
| Let me in again, | 5 | ···˘/ |
| Out of the wet an' rain, Lord! | 7 | ······· |
| Out of the dark an rain, Lord! | 7 | ······· |
| For it's best as you shall say, My Lord! | 9 | ········· |
| An' it's best as you shall say! | 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.