The Family
Hinemoa, Tui, Maina,All of them were born together;They are quite an extra specialSet of babies—wax and leather.
Every day they took an airing;Mummy made them each a bonnet;Two were cherry, one was yellowWith a bow of ribbon on it.
Really, sometimes we would slap them,For if ever we were talking,They would giggle and be silly,Saying, “Mamma, take us walking.”
But we never really loved themTill one day we left them lyingIn the garden—through a hail-storm,And we heard the poor dears crying.
Half-Past-Six said—“You’re a mother!What if Mummy did forget you?”So I said, “Well, you’re their Father.Get them!” but I wouldn’t let you.
Words in this poem
- airing n.
- A walk or a ride in the open air; a short excursion for health's sake.
- giggle v. t.
- To laugh with short catches of the breath or voice; to laugh in a light, affected, or silly manner; to titter with childish levity. [Akin to gaggle: cf. OD. ghichelen, G. kichern.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Family 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, The Family, in Poems (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59276, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mansfield-poems/the-family.html, id L27636.
Form and metre
The Family is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 -A-A maina · togetherA · special · leatherA
- 2 -A-A airing · bonnetA · yellow · itA
- 3 -A-A them · talkingA · silly · walkingA
- 4 -A-A them · lyingA · storm · cryingA
- 5 -A-A mother · youA · father · youA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hinemoa, Tui, Maina, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All of them were born together; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| They are quite an extra special | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Set of babies—wax and leather. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Every day they took an airing; | 9 | /˘˘····/˘ |
| Mummy made them each a bonnet; | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Two were cherry, one was yellow | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| With a bow of ribbon on it. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Really, sometimes we would slap them, | 8 | /˘/····· |
| For if ever we were talking, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| They would giggle and be silly, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Saying, “Mamma, take us walking.” | 8 | /˘/˘··/˘ |
| But we never really loved them | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Till one day we left them lying | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In the garden—through a hail-storm, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And we heard the poor dears crying. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Half-Past-Six said—“You’re a mother! | 8 | ······/˘ |
| What if Mummy did forget you?” | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| So I said, “Well, you’re their Father. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Get them!” but I wouldn’t let you. | 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.