Willie Winkie
Wee Willie Winkie rins through the town,Up-stairs and doon-stairs, in his nicht-gown,Tirlin’ at the window, cryin’ at the lock,“Are the weans in their bed?--for it’s now ten o’clock.”
Hey, Willie Winkie! are ye comin’ ben?The cat’s singin’ gay thrums to the sleepin’ hen,The doug’s speldered on the floor, and disna gie a cheep;But here’s a waukrife laddie that winna fa’ asleep.
Onything but sleep, ye rogue! glow’rin’ like the moon,Rattlin’ in an airn jug wi’ an airn spoon,Rumblin’ tumblin’ roun’ about, crowin’ like a cock,Skirlin’ like a kenna-what--wauknin’ sleepin’ folk.
Hey, Willie Winkie! the wean’s in a creel!Waumblin’ aff a body’s knee like a vera eel,Ruggin’ at the cat’s lug, and ravellin’ a’ her thrums,--Hey, Willie Winkie!--See, there he comes!
Wearie is the mither that has a storie wean,A wee stumpie stoussie that canna rin his lane,That has a battle aye wi’ sleep before he’ll close an ee;But a kiss frae aff his rosy lips gies strength anew to me.
Words in this poem
- cheep v. i.
- To chirp, as a young bird. [Cf. Chirp]
- laddie n.
- A lad; a male sweetheart.
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- creel n.
- An osier basket, such as anglers use. [Gael. craidhleag basket, creel.]
- canna n.
- A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet. [It.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Willie Winkie 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, Willie Winkie, in Poems Every Child Should Know (1904), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16436, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/poems-every-child/willie-winkie.html, id L25165.
Form and metre
Willie Winkie is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 AABB townA · gownA · lockB · o'clockB
- 2 AABB benA · henA · cheepB · asleepB
- 3 AABB moonA · spoonA · cockB · folkB
- 4 AABB creelA · eelA · thrumsB · comesB
- 5 AABB weanA · laneA · eeB · meB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Wee Willie Winkie rins through the town, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Up-stairs and doon-stairs, in his nicht-gown, | 9 | ········· |
| Tirlin’ at the window, cryin’ at the lock, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| “Are the weans in their bed?--for it’s now ten o’clock.” | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Hey, Willie Winkie! are ye comin’ ben? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The cat’s singin’ gay thrums to the sleepin’ hen, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| The doug’s speldered on the floor, and disna gie a cheep; | 13 | ············· |
| But here’s a waukrife laddie that winna fa’ asleep. | 13 | ·····/˘····˘/ |
| Onything but sleep, ye rogue! glow’rin’ like the moon, | 12 | ············ |
| Rattlin’ in an airn jug wi’ an airn spoon, | 10 | ·········· |
| Rumblin’ tumblin’ roun’ about, crowin’ like a cock, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| Skirlin’ like a kenna-what--wauknin’ sleepin’ folk. | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Hey, Willie Winkie! the wean’s in a creel! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Waumblin’ aff a body’s knee like a vera eel, | 12 | ····/˘···/˘· |
| Ruggin’ at the cat’s lug, and ravellin’ a’ her thrums,-- | 13 | ············· |
| Hey, Willie Winkie!--See, there he comes! | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Wearie is the mither that has a storie wean, | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| A wee stumpie stoussie that canna rin his lane, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| That has a battle aye wi’ sleep before he’ll close an ee; | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| But a kiss frae aff his rosy lips gies strength anew to me. | 15 | ······/˘···˘/·· |
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