Iv.—Him Wi' the Bag
Ance was a woman wha's hert was gret;Her love was sae dumb it was 'maist a grief;She brak the box--it's tellt o' her yet--The bonny box for her hert's relief.
Ane was there wha's tale's but brief,Yet was ower lang, the gait he cawed;He luikit a man, and was but a thief,Michty the gear to grip and hand.
"What guid," he cried, "sic a boxfu to blaud?Wilfu waste I couth never beir!It micht hae been sellt for ten poun, I wad--Sellt for ten poun, and gien to the puir!"
Savin he was, but for love o' the gear;Carefu he was, but a' for himsel;He carried the bag to his hert sae nearWhat fell i' the ane i' the ither fell.
And the strings o' his hert hingit doun to hell,They war pu'd sae ticht aboot the mou;And hence it comes that I hae to tellThe warst ill tale that ever was true.
The hert that's greedy maun mischief brew,And the deils pu'd the strings doon yon'er in hell;And he sauld, or the agein mune was new,For thirty shillins the Maister himsel!
Gear i' the hert it's a canker fell:Brithers, latna the siller ben!Troth, gien ye du, I warn ye ye'll sellThe verra Maister or ever ye ken!
Words in this poem
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
- couth p. p.
- Could; was able; knew or known; understood. [See Can, and cf. Uncouth.]
- brew v. t.
- To boil or seethe; to cook. [OE. brewen, AS. breówan; akin to D. brouwen, OHG. priuwan, MHG. briuwen, br, G. brauen, Icel. brugga, Sw. brygga, Dan. brygge, and perh. to L. defrutum must boi]
- maister n.
- Master. Chaucer.
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Iv.—Him Wi' the Bag 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, Iv.—Him Wi' the Bag, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/iv-him-wi-the-bag.html, id L22549.
Form and metre
Iv.—Him Wi' the Bag is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 gret · griefA · yet · reliefA
- 2 ABA- briefA · cawedB · thiefA · hand
- 3 BC-- blaudB · beirC · wad · puir
- 4 C-CD gearC · himsel · nearC · fellD
- 5 DEDE hellD · mouE · tellD · trueE
- 6 EDE- brewE · hellD · newE · himsel
- 7 DFDF fellD · benF · sellD · kenF
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ance was a woman wha's hert was gret; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Her love was sae dumb it was 'maist a grief; | 10 | ·········· |
| She brak the box--it's tellt o' her yet-- | 9 | ········· |
| The bonny box for her hert's relief. | 9 | ·/˘····˘/ |
| Ane was there wha's tale's but brief, | 7 | ······· |
| Yet was ower lang, the gait he cawed; | 10 | ·········˘ |
| He luikit a man, and was but a thief, | 10 | ·········· |
| Michty the gear to grip and hand. | 8 | ········ |
| "What guid," he cried, "sic a boxfu to blaud? | 10 | ·········· |
| Wilfu waste I couth never beir! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It micht hae been sellt for ten poun, I wad-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Sellt for ten poun, and gien to the puir!" | 9 | ········· |
| Savin he was, but for love o' the gear; | 10 | /˘········ |
| Carefu he was, but a' for himsel; | 10 | ·········· |
| He carried the bag to his hert sae near | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What fell i' the ane i' the ither fell. | 10 | ·········· |
| And the strings o' his hert hingit doun to hell, | 11 | ··········· |
| They war pu'd sae ticht aboot the mou; | 9 | ········· |
| And hence it comes that I hae to tell | 9 | ········· |
| The warst ill tale that ever was true. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| The hert that's greedy maun mischief brew, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| And the deils pu'd the strings doon yon'er in hell; | 11 | ··········· |
| And he sauld, or the agein mune was new, | 10 | ·········· |
| For thirty shillins the Maister himsel! | 10 | ·/····/˘·· |
| Gear i' the hert it's a canker fell: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Brithers, latna the siller ben! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Troth, gien ye du, I warn ye ye'll sell | 9 | ········· |
| The verra Maister or ever ye ken! | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
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.