Song by the Window Before Bed
Little Star, little Star,Come down quick.The Moon is a bogey-man;He’ll eat you certain if he can.Little Star, little Star,Come down quick!
Little Star, little Star,Whisper “Yes.”The trees are just niggers all,They look so black, they are so tall.Little Star, little Star,Whisper “Yes.”
Little Star, little Star,Gone—all gone.The bogey-man swallowed you,The nigger trees are laughing too.Little Star, little Star,Gone—all gone.
Words in this poem
- nigger n.
- A negro; -- in vulgar derision or depreciation.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song by the Window Before 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, Song by the Window Before Bed, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/song-by-the-window-before-bed.html, id L27620.
Form and metre
Song by the Window Before Bed is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABCCAB.
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 ABCCAB starA · quickB · manC · canC · starA · quickB
- 2 ABCCAB starA · yesB · allC · tallC · starA · yesB
- 3 ABCCAB starA · goneB · youC · tooC · starA · goneB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Little Star, little Star, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Come down quick. | 3 | ··· |
| The Moon is a bogey-man; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| He’ll eat you certain if he can. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Little Star, little Star, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Come down quick! | 3 | ··· |
| Little Star, little Star, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Whisper “Yes.” | 3 | /˘· |
| The trees are just niggers all, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| They look so black, they are so tall. | 8 | ········ |
| Little Star, little Star, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Whisper “Yes.” | 3 | /˘· |
| Little Star, little Star, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Gone—all gone. | 3 | ··· |
| The bogey-man swallowed you, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| The nigger trees are laughing too. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Little Star, little Star, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Gone—all gone. | 3 | ··· |
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.