Godmother
The day that I was christened—It’s a hundred years, and more!—A hag came and listenedAt the white church door,A-hearing her that bore meAnd all my kith and kinConsiderately, for me,Renouncing sin.While some gave me corals,And some gave me gold,And porringers, with moralsAgreeably scrolled,The hag stood, buckledIn a dim gray cloak;Stood there and chuckled,Spat, and spoke:“There’s few enough in life’llBe needing my help,But I’ve got a trifleFor your fine young whelp.I give her sadness,And the gift of pain,The new-moon madness,And the love of rain.”And little good to lave meIn their holy silver bowlAfter what she gave me—Rest her soul!
Words in this poem
- kith n.
- Acquaintance; kindred. [OE. kith, cu, AS. cc known. Uncouth, Can, and cf. Kythe.]
- scrolled a.
- Formed like a scroll; contained in a scroll; adorned with scrolls; as, scrolled work.
- spat n.
- A young oyster or other bivalve mollusk, both before and after it first becomes adherent, or such young, collectively. [From the root of spit; hence, literally, that which is ejected.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- whelp n.
- One of the young of a dog or a beast of prey; a puppy; a cub; as, a lion's whelps. [AS. hwelp; akin to D. welp, G. & OHG. welf, Icel. hvelpr, Dan. hvalp, Sw. valp.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- lave v. t.
- To lade, dip, or pour out. [OE. laven. See Lavish.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Godmother is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sunset Gun: Poems (Boni & Liveright, 1928), English Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dorothy Parker, Godmother, in Sunset Gun (1928), text of English Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-sunset-gun/godmother.html, id L27407.
Form and metre
Godmother is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGH-I-IJKJKCLCL christenedA · moreB · listenedA · doorB · meC · kinD · meC · sinD · coralsE · goldF · moralsE · scrolledF · buckledG · cloakH · chuckledG · spokeH · life'll · helpI · trifle · whelpI · sadnessJ · painK · madnessJ · rainK · meC · bowlL · meC · soulL
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The day that I was christened— | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| It’s a hundred years, and more!— | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A hag came and listened | 6 | ····/˘ |
| At the white church door, | 5 | ····· |
| A-hearing her that bore me | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And all my kith and kin | 6 | ······ |
| Considerately, for me, | 8 | ········ |
| Renouncing sin. | 4 | ˘/˘· |
| While some gave me corals, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And some gave me gold, | 5 | ····· |
| And porringers, with morals | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Agreeably scrolled, | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| The hag stood, buckled | 5 | ···/˘ |
| In a dim gray cloak; | 5 | ····· |
| Stood there and chuckled, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Spat, and spoke: | 3 | ··· |
| “There’s few enough in life’ll | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| Be needing my help, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| But I’ve got a trifle | 6 | ····/˘ |
| For your fine young whelp. | 5 | ····· |
| I give her sadness, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And the gift of pain, | 5 | ····· |
| The new-moon madness, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And the love of rain.” | 5 | ····· |
| And little good to lave me | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| In their holy silver bowl | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| After what she gave me— | 6 | ······ |
| Rest her soul! | 3 | ··· |
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.