Will o’ the Wisp
FOLLOW me, follow me,Over brake and under tree,Thro’ the bosky tanglery,Brushwood and bramble!Follow me, follow me,Laugh and leap and scramble!Follow, follow,Hill and hollow,Fosse and burrow,Fen and furrow,Down into the bulrush beds,’Midst the reeds and osier heads,In the rushy soaking damps,Where the vapours pitch their camps,Follow me, follow me,For a midnight ramble!O! what a mighty fog,What a merry night O ho!Follow, follow, nigher, nigher—Over bank, and pond, and briar,Down into the croaking ditches,Rotten log,Spotted frog,Beetle brightWith crawling light,What a joy O ho!Deep into the purple bog—What a joy O ho!Where like hosts of puckered witchesAll the shivering agues sitWarming hands and chafing feet,By the blue marsh-hovering oils:O the fools for all their moans!Not a forest mad with fireCould still their teeth, or warm their bones,Or loose them from their chilly coils.What a clatter,How they chatter!Shrink and huddle,All a muddle!What a joy O ho!Down we go, down we go,What a joy O ho!Soon shall I be down below,Plunging with a grey fat friar,Hither, thither, to and fro,Breathing mists and whisking lamps,Plashing in the shiny swamps;While my cousin Lantern Jack,With cook ears and cunning eyes,Turns him round upon his back,Daubs him oozy green and black,Sits upon his rolling size,Where he lies, where he lies,Groaning full of sack—Staring with his great round eyes!What a joy O ho!Sits upon him in the swampsBreathing mists and whisking lamps!What a joy O ho!Such a lad is Lantern Jack,When he rides the black nightmareThrough the fens, and puts a glareIn the friar’s track.Such a frolic lad, good lack!To turn a friar on his back,Trip him, clip him, whip him, nip him.Lay him sprawling, smack!Such a lad is Lantern Jack!Such a tricksy lad, good lack!What a joy O ho!Follow me, follow me,Where he sits, and you shall see!
Words in this poem 15
- bosky a.
- Woody or bushy; covered with boscage or thickets. [Cf. Bushy.]
- bramble n.
- Any plant of the genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry. Hence: Any rough, prickly shrub. [OE. brembil, AS.brbramal), fr. the same root as E. broom, As. br. See Broom.]
- fosse n.
- A ditch or moat. [F., fr. L. fossa, fr. fodere, fossum, to dig.]
- bulrush n.
- A kind of large rush, growing in wet land or in water. [OE. bulrysche, bolroysche; of uncertain origin, perh. fr. bole stem + rush.]
- rushy a.
- Abounding with rushes.
- briar n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
- clatter v. i.
- To make a rattling sound by striking hard bodies together; to make a succession of abrupt, rattling sounds. [AS. cla a rattle, akin to D. klateren to rattle. Cf. Clack.]
- huddle v. i.
- To press together promiscuously, from confusion, apprehension, or the like; to crowd together confusedly; to press or hurry in disorder; to crowd. [Cf. OE. hoderen, hodren, to cover, keep, warm; perh. akin to OE. huden, hiden, to hide, E. hide, and orig. meaning, to get together for protection in a safe pla]
- muddle v. t.
- To make turbid, or muddy, as water. [From Mud.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- whisking a.
- Sweeping along lightly.
- plashing n.
- The cutting or bending and intertwining the branches of small trees, as in hedges.
- shiny a.
- Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- tricksy a.
- Exhibiting artfulness; trickish. [From Trick.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Will o’ the Wisp is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #1381; 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 Meredith, Will o’ the Wisp, in Poems, Volume I (1851–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1381, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meredith-poems/will-o-the-wisp.html, id L13146.
Form and metre
Will o’ the Wisp is 73 lines in a single stanza. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 16 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AA-BABCCDDEEFF----GG--HII-H----JK-KJLLMMNNNN-N--OPOOPPOP----QRRQQQ-QQQ-SS meA · treeA · tanglery · brambleB · meA · scrambleB · followC · hollowC · burrowD · furrowD · bedsE · headsE · dampsF · campsF · me · ramble · fog · ho · nigherG · briarG · ditches · log · frogH · brightI · lightI · ho · bogH · ho · witches · sit · feet · oilsJ · moansK · fire · bonesK · coilsJ · clatterL · chatterL · huddleM · muddleM · hoN · goN · hoN · belowN · friar · froN · lamps · swamps · jackO · eyesP · backO · blackO · sizeP · liesP · sackO · eyesP · ho · swamps · lamps · ho · jackQ · nightmareR · glareR · trackQ · lackQ · backQ · him · smackQ · jackQ · lackQ · ho · meS · seeS
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FOLLOW me, follow me, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Over brake and under tree, | 7 | ······· |
| Thro’ the bosky tanglery, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Brushwood and bramble! | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Follow me, follow me, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Laugh and leap and scramble! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Follow, follow, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Hill and hollow, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Fosse and burrow, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Fen and furrow, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Down into the bulrush beds, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| ’Midst the reeds and osier heads, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In the rushy soaking damps, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Where the vapours pitch their camps, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Follow me, follow me, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| For a midnight ramble! | 6 | ··/·/˘ |
| O! what a mighty fog, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What a merry night O ho! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Follow, follow, nigher, nigher— | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Over bank, and pond, and briar, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Down into the croaking ditches, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Rotten log, | 3 | /˘· |
| Spotted frog, | 3 | /˘· |
| Beetle bright | 3 | /˘· |
| With crawling light, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| What a joy O ho! | 5 | ····· |
| Deep into the purple bog— | 7 | ····/˘· |
| What a joy O ho! | 5 | ····· |
| Where like hosts of puckered witches | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| All the shivering agues sit | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Warming hands and chafing feet, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| By the blue marsh-hovering oils: | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| O the fools for all their moans! | 7 | ······· |
| Not a forest mad with fire | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Could still their teeth, or warm their bones, | 8 | ········ |
| Or loose them from their chilly coils. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What a clatter, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| How they chatter! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Shrink and huddle, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| All a muddle! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| What a joy O ho! | 5 | ····· |
| Down we go, down we go, | 6 | ······ |
| What a joy O ho! | 5 | ····· |
| Soon shall I be down below, | 7 | ······· |
| Plunging with a grey fat friar, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Hither, thither, to and fro, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Breathing mists and whisking lamps, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Plashing in the shiny swamps; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| While my cousin Lantern Jack, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| With cook ears and cunning eyes, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Turns him round upon his back, | 7 | ······· |
| Daubs him oozy green and black, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Sits upon his rolling size, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Where he lies, where he lies, | 6 | ······ |
| Groaning full of sack— | 5 | /˘··· |
| Staring with his great round eyes! | 7 | /˘····· |
| What a joy O ho! | 5 | ····· |
| Sits upon him in the swamps | 7 | ······· |
| Breathing mists and whisking lamps! | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| What a joy O ho! | 5 | ····· |
| Such a lad is Lantern Jack, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| When he rides the black nightmare | 7 | ·····/· |
| Through the fens, and puts a glare | 7 | ······· |
| In the friar’s track. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Such a frolic lad, good lack! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To turn a friar on his back, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Trip him, clip him, whip him, nip him. | 8 | ········ |
| Lay him sprawling, smack! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Such a lad is Lantern Jack! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Such a tricksy lad, good lack! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| What a joy O ho! | 5 | ····· |
| Follow me, follow me, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Where he sits, and you shall see! | 7 | ······· |
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.