Iii.—Wha's My Neibour?
Doon frae Jerus'lem a traveller tookThe laigh road to Jericho;It had an ill name an' mony a crook,It was lang an' unco how.
Oot cam the robbers, an' fell o' the man,An' knockit him o' the heid,Took a' whauron they couth lay their han',An' left him nakit for deid.
By cam a minister o' the kirk:"A sair mishanter!" he cried;"Wha kens whaur the villains may lirk!I s' haud to the ither side!"
By cam an elder o' the kirk;Like a young horse he shied:"Fie! here's a bonnie mornin's wark!"An' he spangt to the ither side.
By cam ane gaed to the wrang kirk;Douce he trottit alang."Puir body!" he cried, an' wi' a yerkAff o' his cuddy he sprang.
He ran to the body, an' turnt it ower:"There's life i' the man!" he cried.He wasna ane to stan an' glower,Nor hand to the ither side!
He doctort his oons, an' heised him thenTo the back o' the beastie douce;An' he heild him on till, twa weary men,They wan to the half-way hoose.
He ten'd him a' nicht, an' o' the morn did say,"Lan'lord, latna him lack;Here's auchteen pence!--an' ony mair ootlayI'll sattle 't as I come back."
Sae tak til ye, neibours; read aricht the word;It's a portion o' God's ain spell!"Wha is my neibour?" speirna the Lord,But, "Am I a neibour?" yersel.
Words in this poem
- unco a.
- Unknown; strange, or foreign; unusual, or surprising; distant in manner; reserved. [Scot. The same word as E. uncouth.]
- couth p. p.
- Could; was able; knew or known; understood. [See Can, and cf. Uncouth.]
- kirk n.
- A church or the church, in the various senses of the word; esp., the Church of Scotland as distinguished from other reformed churches, or from the Roman Catholic Church. Jamieson. [Scot.; cf. Icel. kirkja, of Greek origin. See Church.]
- wark n.
- Work; a building. [See Work.]
- douce a.
- Sweet; pleasant. [F. doux, masc., douce, fem., sweet, fr. L. duleis sweet.]
- yerk v. t.
- To throw or thrust with a sudden, smart movement; to kick or strike suddenly; to jerk. [See Yerk.]
- cuddy n.
- An ass; esp., one driven by a huckster or greengrocer. [See Cudden.]
- glower v. i.
- to look intently; to stare angrily or with a scowl. Thackeray. [Cf. Gloar.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Iii.—Wha's My Neibour? is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, Iii.—Wha's My Neibour?, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/iii-wha-s-my-neibour.html, id L22548.
Form and metre
Iii.—Wha's My Neibour? is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 9 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 A-A- tookA · jericho · crookA · how
- 2 ABAB manA · heidB · hanA · deidB
- 3 ABAB kirkA · criedB · lirkA · sideB
- 4 -A-A kirk · shiedA · wark · sideA
- 5 ABAB kirkA · alangB · yerkA · sprangB
- 6 ABAB owerA · criedB · glowerA · sideB
- 7 ABAB thenA · douceB · menA · hooseB
- 8 ABAB sayA · lackB · ootlayA · backB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Doon frae Jerus'lem a traveller took | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| The laigh road to Jericho; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| It had an ill name an' mony a crook, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| It was lang an' unco how. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Oot cam the robbers, an' fell o' the man, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| An' knockit him o' the heid, | 7 | ······· |
| Took a' whauron they couth lay their han', | 9 | ········· |
| An' left him nakit for deid. | 7 | ······· |
| By cam a minister o' the kirk: | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| "A sair mishanter!" he cried; | 7 | ······· |
| "Wha kens whaur the villains may lirk! | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| I s' haud to the ither side!" | 8 | ········ |
| By cam an elder o' the kirk; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like a young horse he shied: | 6 | ······ |
| "Fie! here's a bonnie mornin's wark!" | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An' he spangt to the ither side. | 8 | ········ |
| By cam ane gaed to the wrang kirk; | 8 | ········ |
| Douce he trottit alang. | 6 | ······ |
| "Puir body!" he cried, an' wi' a yerk | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Aff o' his cuddy he sprang. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| He ran to the body, an' turnt it ower: | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| "There's life i' the man!" he cried. | 7 | ······· |
| He wasna ane to stan an' glower, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Nor hand to the ither side! | 7 | ······· |
| He doctort his oons, an' heised him then | 10 | ·······˘·· |
| To the back o' the beastie douce; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| An' he heild him on till, twa weary men, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They wan to the half-way hoose. | 7 | ······· |
| He ten'd him a' nicht, an' o' the morn did say, | 11 | ··········· |
| "Lan'lord, latna him lack; | 6 | ······ |
| Here's auchteen pence!--an' ony mair ootlay | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| I'll sattle 't as I come back." | 8 | ········ |
| Sae tak til ye, neibours; read aricht the word; | 11 | ··········· |
| It's a portion o' God's ain spell! | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "Wha is my neibour?" speirna the Lord, | 9 | ········· |
| But, "Am I a neibour?" yersel. | 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.