The Deil's Forhooit His Ain
The Deil's forhooit his ain, his ain!The Deil's forhooit his ain!His bairns are greitin in ilka neuk,For the Deil's forhooit his ain.
The Deil he tuik his stick and his hat,And his yallow gluves on he drew:"The coal's sae dear, and the preachin sae flat.And I canna be aye wi' you!"
"But I'll gie ye my blessin afore I gang,Wi' jist ae word o' advice;And gien onything efter that gaes wrangIt'll be yer ain wull and ch'ice!
"Noo hark: There's diseases gaein aboot,Whiles are, and whiles a' thegither!Ane's ca'd Repentance--haith, hand it oot!It comes wi' a change o' weather.
"For that, see aye 'at ye're gude at the spuneAnd tak yer fair share o' the drink;Gien ye dinna, I wadna won'er but suneYe micht 'maist begin to think!
"Neist, luik efter yer liver; that's the placeWhaur Conscience gars ye fin'!Some fowk has mair o' 't, and some has less--It comes o' breedin in.
"But there's waur nor diseases gaein aboot,There's a heap o' fair-spoken lees;And there's naething i' natur, in or oot,'At waur with the health agrees.
"There's what they ca' Faith, 'at wad aye be fain;And Houp that glowers, and tynes a';And Love, that never yet faund its ain,But aye turnt its face to the wa'.
"And Trouth--the sough o' a sickly win';And Richt--what needna be;And Beauty--nae deeper nor the skin;And Blude--that's naething but bree.
"But there's ae gran' doctor for a' and mair--For diseases and lees in a breath:--My bairns, I lea' ye wi'oot a careTo yer best freen, Doctor Death.
"He'll no distress ye: as quaiet's a catHe grips ye, and a'thing's ower;There's naething mair 'at ye wad be at,There's never a sweet nor sour!
"They ca' 't a sleep, but it's better bliss,For ye wauken up no more;They ca' 't a mansion--and sae it is,And the coffin-lid's the door!
"Jist ae word mair---and it's verbum sat--I hae preacht it mony's the year:Whaur there's naething ava to be frictit atThere's naething ava to fear.
"I dinna say 'at there isna a hell--To lee wad be a disgrace!I bide there whan I'm at hame mysel,And it's no sic a byous ill place!
"Ye see yon blue thing they ca' the lift?It's but hell turnt upside doun,A whummilt bossie, whiles fou o' drift,And whiles o' a rumlin soun!
"Lat auld wives tell their tales i' the reek,Men hae to du wi' fac's:There's naebody there to watch, and keekIntil yer wee mistaks.
"But nor ben there's naebody thereFrae the yird to the farthest spark;Ye'll rub the knees o' yer breeks to the bareAfore ye'll pray ye a sark!
"Sae fare ye weel, my bonny men,And weel may ye thrive and the!Gien I dinna see ye some time againIt'll be 'at ye're no to see."
He cockit his hat ower ane o' his cheeks,And awa wi' a halt and a spang--For his tail was doun ae leg o' his breeks,And his butes war a half ower lang.
The Deil's forhooit his ain, his ain!The Deil's forhooit his ain!His bairns are greitin in ilka neuk,For the Deil's forhooit his ain.
Words in this poem 15
- deil n.
- Devil; -- spelt also deel. Deil's buckie. See under Buckie.
- canna n.
- A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet. [It.]
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- sough n.
- A small drain; an adit. W. M. Buchanan. [Etymol. uncertain.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- auld a.
- Old; as, Auld Reekie (old smoky), i. e., Edinburgh. [See Old.]
- reek n.
- A rick. B. Jonson.
- sark v. t.
- To cover with sarking, or thin boards.
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
- 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.]
- spang n.
- A spangle or shining ornament. [AS. spange a clasp or fastening; akin to D. spang, G. spange, OHG. spanga, Icel. spöng a spangle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Deil's Forhooit His Ain 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, The Deil's Forhooit His Ain, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-deil-s-forhooit-his-ain.html, id L22551.
Form and metre
The Deil's Forhooit His Ain is 80 lines in 20 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 13 of its 20 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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 AA-A ainA · ainA · neuk · ainA
- 2 ABAB hatA · drewB · flatA · youB
- 3 ABAB gangA · adviceB · wrangA · ch'iceB
- 4 A-A- abootA · thegither · ootA · weather
- 5 ABAB spuneA · drinkB · suneA · thinkB
- 6 -A-A place · finA · less · inA
- 7 ABAB abootA · leesB · ootA · agreesB
- 8 A-A- fainA · a · ainA · wa
- 9 ABAB winA · beB · skinA · breeB
- 10 ABAB mairA · breathB · careA · deathB
- 11 ABAB catA · owerB · atA · sourB
- 12 -A-A bliss · moreA · is · doorA
- 13 ABAB satA · yearB · atA · fearB
- 14 -A-A hell · disgraceA · mysel · placeA
- 15 ABAB liftA · dounB · driftA · sounB
- 16 ABAB reekA · fac'sB · keekA · mistaksB
- 17 ABAB thereA · sparkB · bareA · sarkB
- 18 ABAB menA · theB · againA · seeB
- 19 ABAB cheeksA · spangB · breeksA · langB
- 20 AA-A ainA · ainA · neuk · ainA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Deil's forhooit his ain, his ain! | 8 | ········ |
| The Deil's forhooit his ain! | 6 | ······ |
| His bairns are greitin in ilka neuk, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For the Deil's forhooit his ain. | 7 | ······· |
| The Deil he tuik his stick and his hat, | 9 | ········· |
| And his yallow gluves on he drew: | 8 | ········ |
| "The coal's sae dear, and the preachin sae flat. | 10 | ·········· |
| And I canna be aye wi' you!" | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| "But I'll gie ye my blessin afore I gang, | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| Wi' jist ae word o' advice; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And gien onything efter that gaes wrang | 10 | ·········· |
| It'll be yer ain wull and ch'ice! | 8 | /˘······ |
| "Noo hark: There's diseases gaein aboot, | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Whiles are, and whiles a' thegither! | 8 | ········ |
| Ane's ca'd Repentance--haith, hand it oot! | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| It comes wi' a change o' weather. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| "For that, see aye 'at ye're gude at the spune | 10 | ·········· |
| And tak yer fair share o' the drink; | 8 | ········ |
| Gien ye dinna, I wadna won'er but sune | 11 | ··········· |
| Ye micht 'maist begin to think! | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| "Neist, luik efter yer liver; that's the place | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Whaur Conscience gars ye fin'! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Some fowk has mair o' 't, and some has less-- | 10 | ·········· |
| It comes o' breedin in. | 6 | ······ |
| "But there's waur nor diseases gaein aboot, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| There's a heap o' fair-spoken lees; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And there's naething i' natur, in or oot, | 10 | ·········· |
| 'At waur with the health agrees. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| "There's what they ca' Faith, 'at wad aye be fain; | 10 | ·········· |
| And Houp that glowers, and tynes a'; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And Love, that never yet faund its ain, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| But aye turnt its face to the wa'. | 8 | ········ |
| "And Trouth--the sough o' a sickly win'; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And Richt--what needna be; | 6 | ······ |
| And Beauty--nae deeper nor the skin; | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| And Blude--that's naething but bree. | 7 | ······· |
| "But there's ae gran' doctor for a' and mair-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| For diseases and lees in a breath:-- | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| My bairns, I lea' ye wi'oot a care | 8 | ········ |
| To yer best freen, Doctor Death. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "He'll no distress ye: as quaiet's a cat | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| He grips ye, and a'thing's ower; | 8 | ········ |
| There's naething mair 'at ye wad be at, | 9 | ········· |
| There's never a sweet nor sour! | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| "They ca' 't a sleep, but it's better bliss, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For ye wauken up no more; | 7 | ······· |
| They ca' 't a mansion--and sae it is, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And the coffin-lid's the door! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| "Jist ae word mair---and it's verbum sat-- | 9 | ········· |
| I hae preacht it mony's the year: | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Whaur there's naething ava to be frictit at | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| There's naething ava to fear. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| "I dinna say 'at there isna a hell-- | 10 | ·········· |
| To lee wad be a disgrace! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| I bide there whan I'm at hame mysel, | 9 | ········· |
| And it's no sic a byous ill place! | 8 | ········ |
| "Ye see yon blue thing they ca' the lift? | 9 | ········· |
| It's but hell turnt upside doun, | 7 | ····//· |
| A whummilt bossie, whiles fou o' drift, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And whiles o' a rumlin soun! | 7 | ······· |
| "Lat auld wives tell their tales i' the reek, | 9 | ········· |
| Men hae to du wi' fac's: | 6 | ······ |
| There's naebody there to watch, and keek | 9 | ········· |
| Intil yer wee mistaks. | 6 | ······ |
| "But nor ben there's naebody there | 8 | ········ |
| Frae the yird to the farthest spark; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ye'll rub the knees o' yer breeks to the bare | 10 | ·········· |
| Afore ye'll pray ye a sark! | 7 | ˘/····· |
| "Sae fare ye weel, my bonny men, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And weel may ye thrive and the! | 7 | ······· |
| Gien I dinna see ye some time again | 10 | ········˘/ |
| It'll be 'at ye're no to see." | 8 | /˘······ |
| He cockit his hat ower ane o' his cheeks, | 11 | ··········· |
| And awa wi' a halt and a spang-- | 9 | ········· |
| For his tail was doun ae leg o' his breeks, | 10 | ·········· |
| And his butes war a half ower lang. | 9 | ········· |
| The Deil's forhooit his ain, his ain! | 8 | ········ |
| The Deil's forhooit his ain! | 6 | ······ |
| His bairns are greitin in ilka neuk, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| For the Deil's forhooit his ain. | 7 | ······· |
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