Laurel · Mary E. Burt · Poems Every Child Should Know

John Barleycorn

Mary E. Burt (1850–1918) · 1904

common measure · 48 lines · from Poems Every Child Should Know

There were three kings into the East,Three kings both great and high;And they ha’e sworn a solemn oathJohn Barleycorn should die.

They took a plow and plowed him down,Put clods upon his head;And they ha’e sworn a solemn oathJohn Barleycorn was dead.

But the cheerful spring came kindly on,And showers began to fall;John Barleycorn got up again,And sore surprised them all.

The sultry suns of summer came,And he grew thick and strong;His head well arm’d wi’ pointed spears,That no one should him wrong.

The sober autumn entered mild,And he grew wan and pale;His bending joints and drooping headShowed he began to fail.

His colour sickened more and more,He faded into age;And then his enemies beganTo show their deadly rage.

They took a weapon long and sharp,And cut him by the knee,Then tied him fast upon a cart,Like a rogue for forgery.

They laid him down upon his back,And cudgelled him full sore;They hung him up before the storm,And turn’d him o’er and o’er.

They filled up then a darksome pitWith water to the brim,And heaved in poor John Barleycorn,To let him sink or swim.

They laid him out upon the floor,To work him further woe;And still as signs of life appeared,They tossed him to and fro.

They wasted o’er a scorching flameThe marrow of his bones;But a miller used him worst of all--He crushed him ’tween two stones.

And they have taken his very heart’s blood,And drunk it round and round;And still the more and more they drank,Their joy did more abound.

Words in this poem

forgery n.: The act of forging metal into shape. [Cf. F. forgerie.]
darksome a.: Dark; gloomy; obscure; shaded; cheerless.
scorching a.: Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
drank n.: Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]

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

About this text

John Barleycorn is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems Every Child Should Know The What-Every-Child-Should-Know-Library, Project Gutenberg ebook #16436; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Mary E. Burt, John Barleycorn, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/john-barleycorn.html, id L25213.

Form and metre

John Barleycorn is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).

See other poems in common measure.

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 -A-A east · high^A · oath · die^A
2 -A-A down · head^A · oath · dead^A
3 -A-A on · fall^A · again · all^A
4 -A-A came · strong^A · spears · wrong^A
5 -A-A mild · pale^A · head · fail^A
6 -A-A more · age^A · began · rage^A
9 -A-A pit · brim^A · barleycorn · swim^A
10 -A-A floor · woe^A · appeared · fro^A
11 -A-A flame · bones^A · all · stones^A
12 -A-A blood · round^A · drank · abound^A

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 common measure. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
There were three kings into the East,	8	········
Three kings both great and high;	6	······
And they ha’e sworn a solemn oath	8	·····/˘·
John Barleycorn should die.	6	·/˘˘··
They took a plow and plowed him down,	8	········
Put clods upon his head;	6	······
And they ha’e sworn a solemn oath	8	·····/˘·
John Barleycorn was dead.	6	·/˘˘··
But the cheerful spring came kindly on,	9	··/˘··/˘·
And showers began to fall;	7	·/˘˘/··
John Barleycorn got up again,	8	·/˘˘··˘/
And sore surprised them all.	6	··˘/··
The sultry suns of summer came,	8	·/˘··/˘·
And he grew thick and strong;	6	······
His head well arm’d wi’ pointed spears,	8	·····/˘·
That no one should him wrong.	6	······
The sober autumn entered mild,	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
And he grew wan and pale;	6	······
His bending joints and drooping head	8	·/˘··/˘·
Showed he began to fail.	6	··˘/··
His colour sickened more and more,	8	·/˘/˘···
He faded into age;	6	·/˘···
And then his enemies began	8	···/˘˘˘/
To show their deadly rage.	6	···/˘·
They took a weapon long and sharp,	8	···/˘···
And cut him by the knee,	6	······
Then tied him fast upon a cart,	8	········
Like a rogue for forgery.	7	····/˘˘
They laid him down upon his back,	8	········
And cudgelled him full sore;	6	·/˘···
They hung him up before the storm,	8	········
And turn’d him o’er and o’er.	6	······
They filled up then a darksome pit	8	·····/˘·
With water to the brim,	6	·/˘···
And heaved in poor John Barleycorn,	8	·····/˘˘
To let him sink or swim.	6	······
They laid him out upon the floor,	8	········
To work him further woe;	6	···/˘·
And still as signs of life appeared,	8	······˘/
They tossed him to and fro.	6	······
They wasted o’er a scorching flame	8	·/˘··/˘·
The marrow of his bones;	6	·/˘···
But a miller used him worst of all--	9	··/˘·····
He crushed him ’tween two stones.	6	······
And they have taken his very heart’s blood,	10	···/˘·/˘··
And drunk it round and round;	6	······
And still the more and more they drank,	8	········
Their joy did more abound.	6	····˘/

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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