A Day in Bed
I wish I had not got a cold,The wind is big and wild,I wish that I was very old,Not just a little child.
Somehow the day is very longJust keeping here, alone;I do not like the big wind’s song,He’s growling for a bone.
He’s like an awful dog we hadWho used to creep aroundAnd snatch at things—he was so bad,With just that horrid sound.
I’m sitting up and nurse has madeMe wear a woolly shawl;I wish I was not so afraid;It’s horrid to be small.
It really feels quite like a daySince I have had my tea;P’raps everybody’s gone awayAnd just forgotten me.
And oh! I cannot go to sleepAlthough I am in bed.The wind keeps going creepy-creepAnd waiting to be fed.
Words in this poem
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Day in Bed is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #59276; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Katherine Mansfield, A Day in Bed, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/a-day-in-bed.html, id L27626.
Form and metre
A Day in Bed is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB coldA · wildB · oldA · childB
- 2 ABAB longA · aloneB · songA · boneB
- 3 ABAB hadA · aroundB · badA · soundB
- 4 ABAB madeA · shawlB · afraidA · smallB
- 5 ABAB dayA · teaB · awayA · meB
- 6 ABAB sleepA · bedB · creepA · fedB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I wish I had not got a cold, | 8 | ········ |
| The wind is big and wild, | 6 | ······ |
| I wish that I was very old, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Not just a little child. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Somehow the day is very long | 8 | /····/˘· |
| Just keeping here, alone; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| I do not like the big wind’s song, | 8 | ········ |
| He’s growling for a bone. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He’s like an awful dog we had | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Who used to creep around | 6 | ······ |
| And snatch at things—he was so bad, | 8 | ········ |
| With just that horrid sound. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I’m sitting up and nurse has made | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Me wear a woolly shawl; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I wish I was not so afraid; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| It’s horrid to be small. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It really feels quite like a day | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Since I have had my tea; | 6 | ······ |
| P’raps everybody’s gone away | 8 | ·/˘·˘·˘/ |
| And just forgotten me. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| And oh! I cannot go to sleep | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Although I am in bed. | 6 | ······ |
| The wind keeps going creepy-creep | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And waiting to be fed. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.