Playing Robinson Crusoe
Pussy can sit by the fire and sing,Pussy can climb a tree,Or play with a silly old cork and stringTo ’muse herself, not me.But I like Binkie, my dog, becauseHe knows how to behave;So, Binkie’s the same as the First Friend was,And I am the Man in the Cave.
Pussy will play Man-Friday tillIt’s time to wet her pawAnd make her walk on the window-sill(For the footprint Crusoe saw);Then she fluffles her tail and mews,And scratches and won’t attend.But Binkie will play whatever I choose,And he is my true First Friend.
Pussy will rub my knees with her head,Pretending she loves me hard;But the very minute I go to my bedPussy runs out in the yard.
And there she stays till the morning light;So I know it is only pretend;But Binkie, he snores at my feet all night,And he is my Firstest Friend!
Words in this poem
- pussy n.
- A pet name for a cat; also, an endearing name for a girl. [Dim. of puss.]
- footprint n.
- The impression of the foot; a trace or footmark; as,
- mews n.
- An alley where there are stables; a narrow passage; a confined place. [Eng.] [Prop. pl. of mew. See Mew a cage.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Playing Robinson Crusoe 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, Playing Robinson Crusoe, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/playing-robinson-crusoe.html, id L25161.
Form and metre
Playing Robinson Crusoe is 24 lines in 4 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
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 ABABCDCD singA · treeB · stringA · meB · becauseC · behaveD · wasC · caveD
- 2 ABABCDCD tillA · pawB · sillA · sawB · mewsC · attendD · chooseC · friendD
- 3 ABAB headA · hardB · bedA · yardB
- 4 ABAB lightA · pretendB · nightA · friendB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pussy can sit by the fire and sing, | 9 | /˘····/·· |
| Pussy can climb a tree, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Or play with a silly old cork and string | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| To ’muse herself, not me. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| But I like Binkie, my dog, because | 9 | ········· |
| He knows how to behave; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So, Binkie’s the same as the First Friend was, | 9 | ········· |
| And I am the Man in the Cave. | 8 | ········ |
| Pussy will play Man-Friday till | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| It’s time to wet her paw | 6 | ······ |
| And make her walk on the window-sill | 9 | ······/˘· |
| (For the footprint Crusoe saw); | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Then she fluffles her tail and mews, | 7 | ······· |
| And scratches and won’t attend. | 7 | ·/˘··˘/ |
| But Binkie will play whatever I choose, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| And he is my true First Friend. | 7 | ······· |
| Pussy will rub my knees with her head, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Pretending she loves me hard; | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| But the very minute I go to my bed | 11 | ··/˘/˘····· |
| Pussy runs out in the yard. | 7 | /˘····· |
| And there she stays till the morning light; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| So I know it is only pretend; | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| But Binkie, he snores at my feet all night, | 10 | ·········· |
| And he is my Firstest Friend! | 7 | ····/˘· |
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.