Laurel · A. A. Milne · When We Were Very Young

Lines and Squares

A. A. Milne (1882–1956) · 1924

19 lines · from When We Were Very Young

Whenever I walk in a London street,I’m ever so careful to watch my feet;And I keep in the squares,And the masses of bears,Who wait at the corners all ready to eatThe sillies who tread on the lines of the street,Go back to their lairs,And I say to them, “Bears,Just look how I’m walking in all of the squares!”

And the little bears growl to each other, “He’s mine,As soon as he’s silly and steps on a line.”And some of the bigger bears try to pretendThat they came round the corner to look for a friend;And they try to pretend that nobody caresWhether you walk on the lines or squares.But only the sillies believe their talk;It’s ever so portant how you walk.And it’s ever so jolly to call out, “Bears,Just watch me walking in all the squares!”

Words in this poem

bigger a.: , compar. of Big.
nobody n.: No person; no one; not anybody. [No, a. + body.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Lines and Squares 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, Lines and Squares, in When We Were Very Young (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70271, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-when-we-were-very-young/lines-and-squares.html, id L27182.

Form and metre

Lines and Squares is 19 lines in 2 stanzas.

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 AABBAABBB street^A · feet^A · squares^B · bears^B · eat^A · street^A · lairs^B · bears^B · squares^B
2 AABBCCDDCC mine^A · line^A · pretend^B · friend^B · cares^C · squares^C · talk^D · walk^D · bears^C · squares^C

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. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Whenever I walk in a London street,	10	˘/˘····/˘·
I’m ever so careful to watch my feet;	9	·/·/˘····
And I keep in the squares,	6	······
And the masses of bears,	6	··/˘··
Who wait at the corners all ready to eat	11	····/˘·/˘··
The sillies who tread on the lines of the street,	11	·/˘········
Go back to their lairs,	5	·····
And I say to them, “Bears,	6	······
Just look how I’m walking in all of the squares!”	11	····/˘·····
And the little bears growl to each other, “He’s mine,	12	··/˘····/˘··
As soon as he’s silly and steps on a line.”	11	····/˘·····
And some of the bigger bears try to pretend	11	····/˘···˘/
That they came round the corner to look for a friend;	12	·····/˘·····
And they try to pretend that nobody cares	11	····˘/·/···
Whether you walk on the lines or squares.	9	·········
But only the sillies believe their talk;	10	·/˘·/˘˘/··
It’s ever so portant how you walk.	8	·/······
And it’s ever so jolly to call out, “Bears,	10	··/·/˘····
Just watch me walking in all the squares!”	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.

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