Little Billee
There were three sailors of Bristol cityWho took a boat and went to sea.But first with beef and captain’s biscuitsAnd pickled pork they loaded she.
There was gorging Jack and guzzling Jimmy,And the youngest he was little Billee.Now when they got so far as the EquatorThey’d nothing left but one split pea.
Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy,“I am extremely hungaree.”To gorging Jack says guzzling Jimmy,“We’ve nothing left, us must eat we.”
Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy,“With one another, we shouldn’t agree!There’s little Bill, he’s young and tender,We’re old and tough, so let’s eat he.”
“Oh! Billy, we’re going to kill and eat you,So undo the button of your chemie.”When Bill received this informationHe used his pocket-handkerchie.
“First let me say my catechism,Which my poor mammy taught to me.”“Make haste, make haste,” says guzzling JimmyWhile Jack pulled out his snickersnee.
So Billy went up to the main-topgallant mast,And down he fell on his bended knee.He scarce had come to the Twelfth CommandmentWhen up he jumps, “There’s land I see.
“Jerusalem and Madagascar,And North and South Amerikee:There’s the British flag a-riding at anchor,With Admiral Napier, K.C.B.”
So when they got aboard of the Admiral’sHe hanged fat Jack and flogged Jimmee;But as for little Bill, he made himThe Captain of a Seventy-three.
Words in this poem
- bristol n.
- A seaport city in the west of England. Bristol board, a kind of fine pasteboard, made with a smooth but usually unglazed surface.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- jimmy n.
- A short crowbar used by burglars in breaking open doors. [Cf. Jemmy.]
- billy n.
- A club; esp., a policeman's club.
- catechism n.
- A form of instruction by means of questions answers. [L. catechismus, fr. Gr. See Catechise.]
- mammy n.
- A child's name for mamma, mother.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- commandment n.
- An order or injunction given by authority; a command; a charge; a precept; a mandate. [OF. commandement, F. commandement.]
- aboard adv.
- On board; into or within a ship or boat; hence, into or within a railway car. [Pref. a- on, in + board.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Little Billee 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, Little Billee, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/little-billee.html, id L25186.
Form and metre
Little Billee is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 city · seaA · biscuits · sheA
- 2 -A-A jimmy · billeeA · equator · peaA
- 3 ABAB jimmyA · hungareeB · jimmyA · weB
- 4 -A-A jimmy · agreeA · tender · heA
- 6 -A-A catechism · meA · jimmy · snickersneeA
- 7 -A-A mast · kneeA · commandment · seeA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There were three sailors of Bristol city | 10 | ···/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Who took a boat and went to sea. | 8 | ········ |
| But first with beef and captain’s biscuits | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And pickled pork they loaded she. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| There was gorging Jack and guzzling Jimmy, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And the youngest he was little Billee. | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| Now when they got so far as the Equator | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| They’d nothing left but one split pea. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| “I am extremely hungaree.” | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| To gorging Jack says guzzling Jimmy, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| “We’ve nothing left, us must eat we.” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| “With one another, we shouldn’t agree! | 10 | ··˘/˘·/˘˘/ |
| There’s little Bill, he’s young and tender, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| We’re old and tough, so let’s eat he.” | 8 | ········ |
| “Oh! Billy, we’re going to kill and eat you, | 10 | ·/˘·/····· |
| So undo the button of your chemie.” | 10 | ·˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| When Bill received this information | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| He used his pocket-handkerchie. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “First let me say my catechism, | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| Which my poor mammy taught to me.” | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| “Make haste, make haste,” says guzzling Jimmy | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| While Jack pulled out his snickersnee. | 8 | ········ |
| So Billy went up to the main-topgallant mast, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| And down he fell on his bended knee. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| He scarce had come to the Twelfth Commandment | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| When up he jumps, “There’s land I see. | 8 | ········ |
| “Jerusalem and Madagascar, | 9 | ˘/˘˘··˘/˘ |
| And North and South Amerikee: | 8 | ········ |
| There’s the British flag a-riding at anchor, | 11 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| With Admiral Napier, K.C.B.” | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| So when they got aboard of the Admiral’s | 10 | ····˘/··/˘ |
| He hanged fat Jack and flogged Jimmee; | 8 | ········ |
| But as for little Bill, he made him | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| The Captain of a Seventy-three. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
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.