A Prouder Man than You
If you fancy that your people came of better stock than mine,If you hint of higher breeding by a word or by a sign,If you're proud because of fortune or the clever things you do --Then I'll play no second fiddle: I'm a prouder man than you!
If you think that your profession has the more gentility,And that you are condescending to be seen along with me;If you notice that I'm shabby while your clothes are spruce and new --You have only got to hint it: I'm a prouder man than you!
If you have a swell companion when you see me on the street,And you think that I'm too common for your toney friend to meet,So that I, in passing closely, fail to come within your view --Then be blind to me for ever: I'm a prouder man than you!
If your character be blameless, if your outward past be clean,While 'tis known my antecedents are not what they should have been,Do not risk contamination, save your name whate'er you do --'Birds o' feather fly together': I'm a prouder bird than you!
Keep your patronage for others! Gold and station cannot hideFriendship that can laugh at fortune, friendship that can conquer pride!Offer this as to an equal -- let me see that you are true,And my wall of pride is shattered: I am not so proud as you!
Words in this poem
- gentility n.
- Good extraction; dignity of birth. [L. gentilitas the relationship of those who belong to the same clan, also, heathenism: cf. F. gentilité heathenism. See Gentile.]
- shabby a.
- Torn or worn to rage; poor; mean; ragged. [See Shab, n., Scabby, and Scab.]
- contamination n.
- The act or process of contaminating; pollution; defilement; taint; also, that which contaminates. [L. contaminatio.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Prouder Man than You is in the public domain. This text is taken from In the Days When the World Was Wide, and Other Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #214; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Lawson, A Prouder Man than You, in In the Days When the World Was Wide (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #214, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lawson-world-was-wide/a-prouder-man-than-you.html, id L23241.
Form and metre
A Prouder Man than You is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in trochaic octameter.
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 mineA · signA · doB · youB
- 2 --AA gentility · me · newA · youA
- 3 AABB streetA · meetA · viewB · youB
- 4 --AA clean · been · doA · youA
- 5 AABB hideA · prideA · trueB · youB
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 octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If you fancy that your people came of better stock than mine, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| If you hint of higher breeding by a word or by a sign, | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| If you're proud because of fortune or the clever things you do -- | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Then I'll play no second fiddle: I'm a prouder man than you! | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| If you think that your profession has the more gentility, | 15 | ·····˘/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| And that you are condescending to be seen along with me; | 15 | ·····˘/˘···˘/·· |
| If you notice that I'm shabby while your clothes are spruce and new -- | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| You have only got to hint it: I'm a prouder man than you! | 15 | ··/˘······/˘··· |
| If you have a swell companion when you see me on the street, | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| And you think that I'm too common for your toney friend to meet, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| So that I, in passing closely, fail to come within your view -- | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Then be blind to me for ever: I'm a prouder man than you! | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| If your character be blameless, if your outward past be clean, | 15 | ··/˘˘·/˘··/˘··· |
| While 'tis known my antecedents are not what they should have been, | 15 | ·····˘/˘······· |
| Do not risk contamination, save your name whate'er you do -- | 16 | ···˘·˘/˘···˘˘/·· |
| 'Birds o' feather fly together': I'm a prouder bird than you! | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Keep your patronage for others! Gold and station cannot hide | 15 | ··/˘˘·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Friendship that can laugh at fortune, friendship that can conquer pride! | 15 | /˘····/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Offer this as to an equal -- let me see that you are true, | 15 | /˘····/˘······· |
| And my wall of pride is shattered: I am not so proud as you! | 15 | ······/˘······· |
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.