Jonathan Jo
Jonathan JoHas a mouth like an “O”And a wheelbarrow full of surprises;If you ask for a bat,Or for something like that,He has got it, whatever the size is.
If you’re wanting a ball,It’s no trouble at all;Why, the more that you ask for, the merrier—Like a hoop and a top,And a watch that won’t stop,And some sweets, and an Aberdeen terrier.
Jonathan JoHas a mouth like an “O”But this is what makes him so funny:If you give him a smile,Only once in a while,Then he never expects any money!
Words in this poem
- wheelbarrow n.
- A light vehicle for conveying small loads. It has two handles and one wheel, and is rolled by a single person.
- funny a.
- Droll; comical; amusing; laughable. Funny bone. See crazy bone, under Crazy. [From Fun.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Jonathan Jo is in the public domain. This text is taken from When We Were Very Young, Project Gutenberg ebook #70271; 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, Jonathan Jo, in When We Were Very Young (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70271, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-when-we-were-very-young/jonathan-jo.html, id L27194.
Form and metre
Jonathan Jo is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 AABCCB joA · oA · surprisesB · batC · thatC · isB
- 2 AABCCB ballA · allA · merrierB · topC · stopC · terrierB
- 3 AABCCB joA · oA · funnyB · smileC · whileC · moneyB
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Jo | 4 | /˘˘· |
| Has a mouth like an “O” | 6 | ······ |
| And a wheelbarrow full of surprises; | 10 | ··/·˘··˘/˘ |
| If you ask for a bat, | 6 | ······ |
| Or for something like that, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| He has got it, whatever the size is. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If you’re wanting a ball, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| It’s no trouble at all; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Why, the more that you ask for, the merrier— | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Like a hoop and a top, | 6 | ······ |
| And a watch that won’t stop, | 6 | ······ |
| And some sweets, and an Aberdeen terrier. | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| Jonathan Jo | 4 | /˘˘· |
| Has a mouth like an “O” | 6 | ······ |
| But this is what makes him so funny: | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| If you give him a smile, | 6 | ······ |
| Only once in a while, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Then he never expects any money! | 9 | ··/˘//˘/˘ |
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.