Binker
Binker—what I call him—is a secret of my own,And Binker is the reason why I never feel alone.Playing in the nursery, sitting on the stair,Whatever I am busy at, Binker will be there.
Oh, Daddy is clever, he's a clever sort of man,And Mummy is the best since the world began,And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan—But they can'tSeeBinker.
Binker's always talking, 'cos I'm teaching him to speak:He sometimes likes to do it in a funny sort of squeak,And he sometimes likes to do it in a hoodling sort of roar ...And I have to do it for him 'cos his throat is rather sore.
Oh, Daddy is clever, he's a clever sort of man,And Mummy knows all that anybody can,And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan—But they don'tKnowBinker.
Binker's brave as lions when we're running in the park;Binker's brave as tigers when we're lying in the dark;Binker's brave as elephants. He never, never cries ...Except (like other people) when the soap gets in his eyes.
Oh, Daddy is Daddy, he's a Daddy sort of man,And Mummy is as Mummy as anybody can,And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan ...But they're notLikeBinker.
Binker isn't greedy, but he does like things to eat,So I have to say to people when they're giving me a sweet,"Oh, Binker wants a chocolate, so could you give me two?"And then I eat it for him, 'cos his teeth are rather new.
Well, I'm very fond of Daddy, but he hasn't time to play,And I'm very fond of Mummy, but she sometimes goes away,And I'm often cross with Nanny when she wants to brush my hair ...But Binker's always Binker, and is certain to be there.
Words in this poem
- nursery n.
- The act of nursing. [Cf. F. nourricerie.]
- daddy n.
- Diminutive of Dad.
- nanny n.
- A diminutive of Ann or Anne, the proper name. Nanny goat, a female goat.
- funny a.
- Droll; comical; amusing; laughable. Funny bone. See crazy bone, under Crazy. [From Fun.]
- squeak v. i.
- To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqväka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Binker is in the public domain. This text is taken from Now We Are Six, Project Gutenberg ebook #70516; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: A. A. Milne, Binker, in Now We Are Six (1927), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70516, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-now-we-are-six/binker.html, id L27223.
Form and metre
Binker is 38 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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 AABB ownA · aloneA · stairB · thereB
- 2 AAA--- manA · beganA · nanA · can't · see · binker
- 3 AABB speakA · squeakA · roarB · soreB
- 4 AAA--- manA · canA · nanA · don't · know · binker
- 5 AABB parkA · darkA · criesB · eyesB
- 6 AAA--- manA · canA · nanA · not · like · binker
- 7 AABB eatA · sweetA · twoB · newB
- 8 AABB playA · awayA · hairB · thereB
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 iambic heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Binker—what I call him—is a secret of my own, | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| And Binker is the reason why I never feel alone. | 13 | ·····/˘··/·˘/ |
| Playing in the nursery, sitting on the stair, | 11 | /˘··/˘/˘··· |
| Whatever I am busy at, Binker will be there. | 13 | ·/˘··/˘······ |
| Oh, Daddy is clever, he's a clever sort of man, | 13 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘··· |
| And Mummy is the best since the world began, | 11 | ·/˘······˘/ |
| And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan— | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| But they can't | 3 | ··· |
| See | 1 | · |
| Binker. | 2 | ·· |
| Binker's always talking, 'cos I'm teaching him to speak: | 13 | ··/·/˘··/˘··· |
| He sometimes likes to do it in a funny sort of squeak, | 14 | ·/·······/˘··· |
| And he sometimes likes to do it in a hoodling sort of roar ... | 15 | ··˘/··········· |
| And I have to do it for him 'cos his throat is rather sore. | 15 | ············/˘· |
| Oh, Daddy is clever, he's a clever sort of man, | 13 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘··· |
| And Mummy knows all that anybody can, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan— | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| But they don't | 3 | ··· |
| Know | 1 | · |
| Binker. | 2 | ·· |
| Binker's brave as lions when we're running in the park; | 13 | ····/˘··/˘··· |
| Binker's brave as tigers when we're lying in the dark; | 12 | ····/··/˘··· |
| Binker's brave as elephants. He never, never cries ... | 10 | ····/˘·//· |
| Except (like other people) when the soap gets in his eyes. | 14 | ···/˘/˘······· |
| Oh, Daddy is Daddy, he's a Daddy sort of man, | 13 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘··· |
| And Mummy is as Mummy as anybody can, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘· |
| And Nanny is Nanny, and I call her Nan ... | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| But they're not | 3 | ··· |
| Like | 1 | · |
| Binker. | 2 | ·· |
| Binker isn't greedy, but he does like things to eat, | 13 | ··/˘/˘······· |
| So I have to say to people when they're giving me a sweet, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| "Oh, Binker wants a chocolate, so could you give me two?" | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And then I eat it for him, 'cos his teeth are rather new. | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| Well, I'm very fond of Daddy, but he hasn't time to play, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| And I'm very fond of Mummy, but she sometimes goes away, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/··˘/ |
| And I'm often cross with Nanny when she wants to brush my hair ... | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| But Binker's always Binker, and is certain to be there. | 14 | ···/·····/˘··· |
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