Rilloby-Rill
Grasshoppers four a-fiddling went,Heigh-ho! never be still!They earned but little towards their rentBut all day long with their elbows bentThey fiddled a tune called Rilloby-rilloby,Fiddled a tune called Rilloby-rill.
Grasshoppers soon on Fairies came,Heigh-ho! never be still!Fairies asked with a manner of blame,"Where do you come from, what is your name?What do you want with your Rilloby-rilloby,What do you want with your Rilloby-rill?"
"Madam, you see before you stand,Heigh-ho! never be still!The Old Original Favourite GrandGrasshopper's Green Herbarian Band,And the tune we play is Rilloby-rilloby,Madam, the tune is Rilloby-rill."
Fairies hadn't a word to say,Heigh-ho! never be still!Fairies seldom are sweet by day,But the Grasshoppers merrily fiddled away,O but they played with a willoby-rilloby,O but they played with a willoby-will!
Fairies slumber and sulk at noon,Heigh-ho! never be still!But at last the kind old motherly moonBrought them dew in a silver spoon,And they turned to ask for Rilloby-rilloby,One more round of Rilloby-rill.
Ah! but nobody now replied,Heigh-ho! never be still!When day went down the music died,Grasshoppers four lay side by side,And there was an end of their Rilloby-rilloby,There was an end of their Rilloby-rill.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- sulk v. i.
- To be silently sullen; to be morose or obstinate. T. Hook. [See Sulkiness.]
- nobody n.
- No person; no one; not anybody. [No, a. + body.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rilloby-Rill is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems: New and Old, Project Gutenberg ebook #24405; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry John Newbolt, Rilloby-Rill, in Poems: New and Old (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #24405, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/newbolt-poems/rilloby-rill.html, id L11509.
Form and metre
Rilloby-Rill is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.0 syllables. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAA-B wentA · stillB · rentA · bentA · rilloby · rillB
- 2 ABAA-B cameA · stillB · blameA · nameA · rilloby · rillB
- 3 ABAA-B standA · stillB · grandA · bandA · rilloby · rillB
- 4 ABAA-B sayA · stillB · dayA · awayA · rilloby · willB
- 5 ABAA-B noonA · stillB · moonA · spoonA · rilloby · rillB
- 6 ABAA-B repliedA · stillB · diedA · sideA · rilloby · rillB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Grasshoppers four a-fiddling went, | 8 | /·˘··/˘· |
| Heigh-ho! never be still! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| They earned but little towards their rent | 10 | ··˘·/˘···· |
| But all day long with their elbows bent | 9 | ······/·· |
| They fiddled a tune called Rilloby-rilloby, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Fiddled a tune called Rilloby-rill. | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| Grasshoppers soon on Fairies came, | 8 | /·˘··/˘· |
| Heigh-ho! never be still! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Fairies asked with a manner of blame, | 10 | /˘·˘··/˘·· |
| "Where do you come from, what is your name? | 9 | ········· |
| What do you want with your Rilloby-rilloby, | 12 | ············ |
| What do you want with your Rilloby-rill?" | 10 | ·········· |
| "Madam, you see before you stand, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Heigh-ho! never be still! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| The Old Original Favourite Grand | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Grasshopper's Green Herbarian Band, | 9 | /·˘·˘/˘˘· |
| And the tune we play is Rilloby-rilloby, | 12 | ············ |
| Madam, the tune is Rilloby-rill." | 9 | /˘······· |
| Fairies hadn't a word to say, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Heigh-ho! never be still! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Fairies seldom are sweet by day, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| But the Grasshoppers merrily fiddled away, | 11 | ··/·˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| O but they played with a willoby-rilloby, | 12 | ············ |
| O but they played with a willoby-will! | 10 | ·········· |
| Fairies slumber and sulk at noon, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Heigh-ho! never be still! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| But at last the kind old motherly moon | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Brought them dew in a silver spoon, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And they turned to ask for Rilloby-rilloby, | 12 | ············ |
| One more round of Rilloby-rill. | 8 | ········ |
| Ah! but nobody now replied, | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Heigh-ho! never be still! | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| When day went down the music died, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Grasshoppers four lay side by side, | 8 | /·˘····· |
| And there was an end of their Rilloby-rilloby, | 13 | ············· |
| There was an end of their Rilloby-rill. | 10 | ·········· |
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.