Friar Lubin
To gallop off to town post-haste,So oft, the times I cannot tell;To do vile deed, nor feel disgraced,--Friar Lubin will do it well.But a sober life to lead,To honor virtue, and pursue it,That's a pious, Christian deed,--Friar Lubin can not do it.
To mingle, with a knowing smile,The goods of others with his own,And leave you without cross or pile,Friar Lubin stands alone.To say 't is yours is all in vain,If once he lays his finger to it;For as to giving back again,Friar Lubin cannot do it.
With flattering words and gentle tone,To woo and win some guileless maid,Cunning pander need you none,--Friar Lubin knows the trade.Loud preacheth he sobriety,But as for water, doth eschew it;Your dog may drink it,--but not he;Friar Lubin cannot do it.
When an evil deed 's to doFriar Lubin is stout and true;Glimmers a ray of goodness through it,Friar Lubin cannot do it.
Words in this poem
- guileless a.
- Free from guile; artless.
- sobriety n.
- Habitual soberness or temperance as to the use of spirituous liquors; as, a man of sobriety. [L. sobrietas: cf. F. sobriété. See Sober.]
- eschew v. t.
- To shun; to avoid, as something wrong, or from a feeling of distaste; to keep one's self clear of. [OF. eschever, eschiver, eskiver, F. esquiver, fr. OHG. sciuhen, G. scheuen; akin to E. sky. See Shy, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Friar Lubin is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; 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 Wadsworth Longfellow, Friar Lubin, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/friar-lubin.html, id L26187.
Form and metre
Friar Lubin is 28 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCDCD hasteA · tellB · disgracedA · wellB · leadC · itD · deedC · itD
- 2 ABABCDCD smileA · ownB · pileA · aloneB · vainC · itD · againC · itD
- 3 -A-A-B-B tone · maidA · none · tradeA · sobriety · itB · he · itB
- 4 AABB doA · trueA · itB · itB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To gallop off to town post-haste, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So oft, the times I cannot tell; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To do vile deed, nor feel disgraced,-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Friar Lubin will do it well. | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| But a sober life to lead, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To honor virtue, and pursue it, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/· |
| That's a pious, Christian deed,-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Friar Lubin can not do it. | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| To mingle, with a knowing smile, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The goods of others with his own, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And leave you without cross or pile, | 8 | ········ |
| Friar Lubin stands alone. | 7 | /˘/˘·˘/ |
| To say 't is yours is all in vain, | 9 | ········· |
| If once he lays his finger to it; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| For as to giving back again, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Friar Lubin cannot do it. | 8 | /˘/˘/˘·· |
| With flattering words and gentle tone, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To woo and win some guileless maid, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Cunning pander need you none,-- | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Friar Lubin knows the trade. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Loud preacheth he sobriety, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| But as for water, doth eschew it; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/· |
| Your dog may drink it,--but not he; | 8 | ········ |
| Friar Lubin cannot do it. | 8 | /˘/˘/˘·· |
| When an evil deed 's to do | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Friar Lubin is stout and true; | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Glimmers a ray of goodness through it, | 9 | /˘···/˘·· |
| Friar Lubin cannot do it. | 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.