A Few Rules for Beginners
Babies must not eat the coalAnd they must not make grimaces,Nor in party dresses rollAnd must never black their faces.
They must learn that pointing’s rude,They must sit quite still at table,And must always eat the foodPut before them—if they’re able.
If they fall, they must not cry,Though it’s known how painful this is;No—there’s always Mother byWho will comfort them with kisses.
About this text
A Few Rules for Beginners 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 Few Rules for Beginners, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/a-few-rules-for-beginners.html, id L27625.
Form and metre
A Few Rules for Beginners is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB coalA · grimacesB · rollA · facesB
- 2 ABAB rudeA · tableB · foodA · ableB
- 3 ABAB cryA · isB · byA · kissesB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Babies must not eat the coal | 7 | /˘····· |
| And they must not make grimaces, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Nor in party dresses roll | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And must never black their faces. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| They must learn that pointing’s rude, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| They must sit quite still at table, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| And must always eat the food | 7 | ··/···· |
| Put before them—if they’re able. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| If they fall, they must not cry, | 7 | ······· |
| Though it’s known how painful this is; | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| No—there’s always Mother by | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Who will comfort them with kisses. | 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.