Old Aunt Mary's
Wasn't it pleasant, O brother mine,In those old days of the lost sunshineOf youth--when the Saturday's chores were through,And the "Sunday's wood" in the kitchen, too,And we went visiting, "me and you,"Out to Old Aunt Mary's?
It all comes back so clear to-day!Though I am as bald as you are gray--Out by the barn-lot, and down the lane,We patter along in the dust again,As light as the tips of the drops of the rain,Out to Old Aunt Mary's!
We cross the pasture, and through the woodWhere the old gray snag of the poplar stood,Where the hammering "red-heads" hopped awry,And the buzzard "raised" in the "clearing" skyAnd lolled and circled, as we went byOut to Old Aunt Mary's.
And then in the dust of the road again;And the teams we met, and the countrymen;And the long highway, with sunshine spreadAs thick as butter on country bread,Our cares behind, and our hearts aheadOut to Old Aunt Mary's.
Why, I see her now in the open door,Where the little gourds grew up the sides and o'erThe clapboard roof!--And her face--ah, me!Wasn't it good for a boy to see--And wasn't it good for a boy to beOut to Old Aunt Mary's?
And O my brother, so far away,This is to tell you she waits to-dayTo welcome us:--Aunt Mary fellAsleep this morning, whispering, "TellThe boys to come!" And all is wellOut to Old Aunt Mary's.
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- patter v. i.
- To strike with a quick succession of slight, sharp sounds; as, pattering rain or hail; pattering feet. [Freq. of pat to strike gently.]
- snag n.
- A stump or base of a branch that has been lopped off; a short branch, or a sharp or rough branch; a knot; a protuberance. [Prov. E., n., a lump on a tree where a branch has been cut off; v., to cut off the twigs and small branches from a tree, of Celtic origin; cf. Gael. snaigh, sna]
- hopped p. a.
- Impregnated with hops.
- circled a.
- Having the form of a circle; round.
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- clapboard n.
- A narrow board, thicker at one edge than at the other; -- used for weatherboarding the outside of houses. [U. S.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Old Aunt Mary's is in the public domain. This text is taken from Riley Child-Rhymes, Project Gutenberg ebook #9777; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: James Whitcomb Riley, Old Aunt Mary's, in Riley Child-Rhymes (1890), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9777, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/riley-child-rhymes/old-aunt-mary-s.html, id L25046.
Form and metre
Old Aunt Mary's is 36 lines in 6 stanzas of 6 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 61% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBB- mineA · sunshineA · throughB · tooB · youB · mary's
- 2 AABBB- dayA · grayA · laneB · againB · rainB · mary's
- 3 AABBB- woodA · stoodA · awryB · skyB · byB · mary's
- 4 AABBB- againA · countrymenA · spreadB · breadB · aheadB · mary's
- 5 --AAA- door · o'er · meA · seeA · beA · mary's
- 6 AABBB- awayA · dayA · fellB · tellB · wellB · mary's
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Wasn't it pleasant, O brother mine, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| In those old days of the lost sunshine | 9 | ·······/· |
| Of youth--when the Saturday's chores were through, | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| And the "Sunday's wood" in the kitchen, too, | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| And we went visiting, "me and you," | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Out to Old Aunt Mary's? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| It all comes back so clear to-day! | 8 | ········ |
| Though I am as bald as you are gray-- | 9 | ········· |
| Out by the barn-lot, and down the lane, | 9 | ········· |
| We patter along in the dust again, | 10 | ·/˘˘/···˘/ |
| As light as the tips of the drops of the rain, | 11 | ··········· |
| Out to Old Aunt Mary's! | 6 | ····/˘ |
| We cross the pasture, and through the wood | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Where the old gray snag of the poplar stood, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where the hammering "red-heads" hopped awry, | 10 | ··/˘˘···˘/ |
| And the buzzard "raised" in the "clearing" sky | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| And lolled and circled, as we went by | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Out to Old Aunt Mary's. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And then in the dust of the road again; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And the teams we met, and the countrymen; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And the long highway, with sunshine spread | 9 | ···/··/·· |
| As thick as butter on country bread, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Our cares behind, and our hearts ahead | 11 | /˘····/˘·˘/ |
| Out to Old Aunt Mary's. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Why, I see her now in the open door, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where the little gourds grew up the sides and o'er | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| The clapboard roof!--And her face--ah, me! | 9 | ·/······· |
| Wasn't it good for a boy to see-- | 9 | /˘······· |
| And wasn't it good for a boy to be | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Out to Old Aunt Mary's? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And O my brother, so far away, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| This is to tell you she waits to-day | 9 | ········· |
| To welcome us:--Aunt Mary fell | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Asleep this morning, whispering, "Tell | 9 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘· |
| The boys to come!" And all is well | 8 | ········ |
| Out to Old Aunt Mary's. | 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.