Explained
Elizabeth AnnSaid to her Nan:"Please will you tell me how God began?Somebody must have made Him. SoWho could it be, 'cos I want to know?"And Nurse said, "Well!"And Ann said, "Well?I know you know, and I wish you'd tell."And Nurse took pins from her mouth, and said,"Now then, darling, it's time for bed."
Elizabeth AnnHad a wonderful plan:She would run round the world till she found a manWho knew exactly how God began.She got up early, she dressed, and ranTrying to find an Important Man.She ran to London and knocked at the doorOf the Lord High Doodelum's coach-and-four."Please, sir (if there's anyone in),However-and-ever did God begin?"
The Lord High Doodelum lay in bed,But out of the window, large and red,Came the Lord High Coachman's face instead.And the Lord High Coachman laughed and said:"Well, what put that in your quaint little head?"
Elizabeth Ann went home againAnd took from the ottoman Jennifer Jane."Jenniferjane," said Elizabeth Ann,"Tell me at once how God began."And Jane, who didn't much care for speaking,Replied in her usual way by squeaking.
What did it mean? Well, to be quite candid,I don't know, but Elizabeth Ann did.Elizabeth Ann said softly, "Oh!Thank you, Jennifer. Now I know."
Words in this poem
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
- anyone n.
- One taken at random rather than by selection; anybody.
- coachman n.
- A man whose business is to drive a coach or carriage.
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- jane n.
- A coin of Genoa; any small coin. [LL. Janua Genoa; L. Genua, also OE. Jean.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Explained 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, Explained, in Now We Are Six (1927), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70516, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-now-we-are-six/explained.html, id L27244.
Form and metre
Explained is 35 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AAABBCCCDD annA · nanA · beganA · soB · knowB · wellC · wellC · tellC · saidD · bedD
- 2 AAAAAABBCC annA · planA · manA · beganA · ranA · manA · doorB · fourB · inC · beginC
- 3 AAAAA bedA · redA · insteadA · saidA · headA
- 4 AABBCC againA · janeA · annB · beganB · speakingC · squeakingC
- 5 AABB candidA · didA · ohB · knowB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth Ann | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| Said to her Nan: | 4 | ···· |
| "Please will you tell me how God began? | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Somebody must have made Him. So | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Who could it be, 'cos I want to know?" | 9 | ········· |
| And Nurse said, "Well!" | 4 | ···· |
| And Ann said, "Well? | 4 | ···· |
| I know you know, and I wish you'd tell." | 9 | ········· |
| And Nurse took pins from her mouth, and said, | 9 | ········· |
| "Now then, darling, it's time for bed." | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Elizabeth Ann | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| Had a wonderful plan: | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| She would run round the world till she found a man | 11 | ··········· |
| Who knew exactly how God began. | 9 | ··˘/˘··˘/ |
| She got up early, she dressed, and ran | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Trying to find an Important Man. | 9 | /˘···˘/˘· |
| She ran to London and knocked at the door | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of the Lord High Doodelum's coach-and-four. | 10 | ·········· |
| "Please, sir (if there's anyone in), | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| However-and-ever did God begin?" | 9 | ·/˘·/··˘/ |
| The Lord High Doodelum lay in bed, | 9 | ········· |
| But out of the window, large and red, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Came the Lord High Coachman's face instead. | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| And the Lord High Coachman laughed and said: | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| "Well, what put that in your quaint little head?" | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Elizabeth Ann went home again | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| And took from the ottoman Jennifer Jane. | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| "Jenniferjane," said Elizabeth Ann, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| "Tell me at once how God began." | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And Jane, who didn't much care for speaking, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Replied in her usual way by squeaking. | 10 | ˘/··/˘··/˘ |
| What did it mean? Well, to be quite candid, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| I don't know, but Elizabeth Ann did. | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Elizabeth Ann said softly, "Oh! | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Thank you, Jennifer. Now I know." | 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.