Busy
I think I am a Muffin Man. I haven't got a bell,I haven't got the muffin things that muffin people sell.Perhaps I am a Postman. No, I think I am a Tram.I'm feeling rather funny and I don't know what I am—
BUT
Round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round about I go—All round the table,The table in the nursery—Round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round about I go;
I think I am a Traveller escaping from a Bear;I think I am an Elephant,Behind another ElephantBehind another Elephant who isn't really there....
SO
Round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round about and round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round aboutI go.
I think I am a Ticket Man who's selling tickets—please,I think I am a Doctor who is visiting a Sneeze;Perhaps I'm just a Nanny who is walking with a pramI'm feeling rather funny and I don't know what I am—
BUT
Round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round about I go—All around the table,The table in the nursery—Round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round about I go;
I think I am a Puppy, so I'm hanging out my tongue;I think I am a Camel whoIs looking for a Camel whoIs looking for a Camel who is looking for its Young....
SO
Round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round about and round aboutAnd round aboutAnd round aboutI go.
Words in this poem
- muffin n.
- A light, spongy, cylindrical cake, used for breakfast and tea. [From Muff.]
- postman n.
- A post or courier; a letter carrier.
- tram n.
- A four-wheeled truck running on rails, and used in a mine, as for carrying coal or ore. [Prov. E. tram a coal wagon, the shaft of a cart or carriage, a beam or bar; probably of Scand, origin; cf. OSw. tråm, trum, a beam, OD. drom, Prov. & OHG. tram.]
- funny a.
- Droll; comical; amusing; laughable. Funny bone. See crazy bone, under Crazy. [From Fun.]
- nursery n.
- The act of nursing. [Cf. F. nourricerie.]
- nanny n.
- A diminutive of Ann or Anne, the proper name. Nanny goat, a female goat.
- puppy n.
- The young of a canine animal, esp. of the common dog; a whelp. [F. poupée doll, puppet. See Puppet, and cf. Pup, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Busy 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, Busy, in Now We Are Six (1927), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70516, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-now-we-are-six/busy.html, id L27221.
Form and metre
Busy is 48 lines in 12 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in iambic 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 AABB bellA · sellA · tramB · amB
- 3 -------C about · about · go · table · nursery · about · about · goC
- 4 D--D bearD · elephant · elephant · thereD
- 5 C soC
- 6 -----C about · about · about · about · about · goC
- 7 EEFF pleaseE · sneezeE · pramF · amF
- 9 -------G about · about · go · table · nursery · about · about · goG
- 10 H--H tongueH · who · who · youngH
- 11 G soG
- 12 -----G about · about · about · about · about · goG
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I think I am a Muffin Man. I haven't got a bell, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| I haven't got the muffin things that muffin people sell. | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Perhaps I am a Postman. No, I think I am a Tram. | 14 | ˘/···/˘······· |
| I'm feeling rather funny and I don't know what I am— | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘······· |
| BUT | 1 | · |
| Round about | 3 | ··· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about I go— | 6 | ······ |
| All round the table, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| The table in the nursery— | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Round about | 3 | ··· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about I go; | 6 | ······ |
| I think I am a Traveller escaping from a Bear; | 13 | ·····/˘˘/˘··· |
| I think I am an Elephant, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Behind another Elephant | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Behind another Elephant who isn't really there.... | 13 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘˘/˘· |
| SO | 1 | · |
| Round about | 3 | ··· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about and round about | 8 | ········ |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| I go. | 2 | ·· |
| I think I am a Ticket Man who's selling tickets—please, | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘/˘· |
| I think I am a Doctor who is visiting a Sneeze; | 13 | ·····/˘··/˘·· |
| Perhaps I'm just a Nanny who is walking with a pram | 14 | ˘/···/˘··/˘··· |
| I'm feeling rather funny and I don't know what I am— | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘······· |
| BUT | 1 | · |
| Round about | 3 | ··· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about I go— | 6 | ······ |
| All around the table, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The table in the nursery— | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Round about | 3 | ··· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about I go; | 6 | ······ |
| I think I am a Puppy, so I'm hanging out my tongue; | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| I think I am a Camel who | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is looking for a Camel who | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is looking for a Camel who is looking for its Young.... | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| SO | 1 | · |
| Round about | 3 | ··· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about and round about | 8 | ········ |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| And round about | 4 | ···· |
| I go. | 2 | ·· |
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.