On the Sunny Side
Hi and whoop-hooray, boys!Sing a song of cheer!Here's a holiday, boys,Lasting half a year!Round the world, and half isShadow we have tried;Now we're where the laugh is,--On the sunny side!
Pigeons coo and mutter,Strutting high aloofWhere the sunbeans flutterThrough the stable roof.Hear the chickens cheep, boys,And the hen with prideClucking them to sleep, boys,On the sunny side!
Hear the clacking guinea;Hear the cattle moo;Hear the horses whinny,Looking out at you!On the hitching-block, boys,Grandly satisfied,See the old peacock, boys,On the sunny side!
Robins in the peach-tree;Bluebirds in the pear;Blossoms over each treeIn the orchard there!All the world's in joy, boys,Glad and glorifiedAs a romping boy, boys,On the sunny side!
Where's a heart as mellow?Where's a soul as free?Where is any fellowWe would rather be?Just ourselves or none, boys,World around and wide,Laughing in the sun, boys,On the sunny side!
Words in this poem
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- cheep v. i.
- To chirp, as a young bird. [Cf. Chirp]
- clucking n.
- The noise or call of a brooding hen.
- grandly adv.
- In a grand manner.
- romping a.
- Inclined to romp; indulging in romps.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On the Sunny Side 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, On the Sunny Side, in Riley Child-Rhymes (1890), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9777, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/riley-child-rhymes/on-the-sunny-side.html, id L25064.
Form and metre
On the Sunny Side is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is trochaic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in trochaic trimeter.
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 boysA · cheerB · boysA · yearB · isC · triedD · isC · sideD
- 2 ABABCDCD mutterA · aloofB · flutterA · roofB · boysC · prideD · boysC · sideD
- 3 ABABCDCD guineaA · mooB · whinnyA · youB · boysC · satisfiedD · boysC · sideD
- 4 ABABCDCD treeA · pearB · treeA · thereB · boysC · glorifiedD · boysC · sideD
- 5 ABABCDCD mellowA · freeB · fellowA · beB · boysC · wideD · boysC · sideD
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 trochaic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Hi and whoop-hooray, boys! | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Sing a song of cheer! | 5 | ····· |
| Here's a holiday, boys, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Lasting half a year! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Round the world, and half is | 6 | ······ |
| Shadow we have tried; | 5 | /···· |
| Now we're where the laugh is,-- | 6 | ······ |
| On the sunny side! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Pigeons coo and mutter, | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Strutting high aloof | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Where the sunbeans flutter | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Through the stable roof. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Hear the chickens cheep, boys, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| And the hen with pride | 5 | ····· |
| Clucking them to sleep, boys, | 6 | /˘···· |
| On the sunny side! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Hear the clacking guinea; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Hear the cattle moo; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Hear the horses whinny, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Looking out at you! | 5 | /˘··· |
| On the hitching-block, boys, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Grandly satisfied, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| See the old peacock, boys, | 6 | ···/·· |
| On the sunny side! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Robins in the peach-tree; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Bluebirds in the pear; | 5 | /···· |
| Blossoms over each tree | 5 | /˘··· |
| In the orchard there! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| All the world's in joy, boys, | 6 | ······ |
| Glad and glorified | 5 | ··/˘· |
| As a romping boy, boys, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| On the sunny side! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Where's a heart as mellow? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Where's a soul as free? | 5 | ····· |
| Where is any fellow | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| We would rather be? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Just ourselves or none, boys, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| World around and wide, | 5 | ····· |
| Laughing in the sun, boys, | 6 | /˘···· |
| On the sunny side! | 5 | ··/˘· |
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.