The Squirtgun Uncle Maked Me
Uncle Sidney, when he wuz here,Maked me a squirtgun out o' someElder-bushes 'at growed out nearWhere wuz the brickyard--'way out clearTo where the toll-gate come!
So when we walked back home again,He maked it, out in our woodhouse whereWuz the old workbench, an' the old jack-plane,An' the old 'pokeshave, an' the tools all lay'n'Ist like he wants 'em there.
He sawed it first with the old hand-saw;An' nen he peeled off the bark, an' gotSome glass an' scraped it; an' told 'bout Pa,When he wuz a boy an' fooled his Ma,An' the whippin' 'at he caught.
Nen Uncle Sidney, he took an' filedA' old arn ramrod; an' one o' the endsHe screwed fast into the vise; an' smiled,Thinkin', he said, o' when he wuz a child,'Fore him an' Pa wuz mens.
He punched out the peth, an' nen he putA plug in the end with a hole notched through;Nen took the old drawey-knife an' cutAn' maked a handle 'at shoved clean shutBut ist where yer hand held to.
An' he wropt th'uther end with some string an' whitePiece o' the sleeve of a' old tored shirt;An' nen he showed me to hold it tight,An' suck in the water an' work it rightAn' it 'ud ist squirt an' squirt!
Words in this poem
- woodhouse n.
- A house or shed in which wood is stored, and sheltered from the weather.
- workbench n.
- A bench on which work is performed, as in a carpenter's shop.
- ramrod n.
- The rod used in ramming home the charge in a muzzle-loading firearm.
- vise n.
- An instrument consisting of two jaws, closing by a screw, lever, cam, or the like, for holding work, as in filing. [F. vis a screw, winding stairs, OF. vis, viz, fr. L. vitis a vine; probably akin to E. withy.]
- squirt v. t.
- To drive or eject in a stream out of a narrow pipe or orifice; as, to squirt water. [Cf. LG. swirtjen to squirt, OSw. sqvätta, E. squander.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Squirtgun Uncle Maked Me 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, The Squirtgun Uncle Maked Me, in Riley Child-Rhymes (1890), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9777, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/riley-child-rhymes/the-squirtgun-uncle-maked-me.html, id L25044.
Form and metre
The Squirtgun Uncle Maked Me is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas.
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 ABAAB hereA · someB · nearA · clearA · comeB
- 2 ABAAB againA · whereB · planeA · lay'nA · thereB
- 3 -ABBA saw · gotA · paB · maB · caughtA
- 4 A-AA- filedA · ends · smiledA · childA · mens
- 5 -ABBA put · throughA · cutB · shutB · toA
- 6 ABAAB whiteA · shirtB · tightA · rightA · squirtB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Uncle Sidney, when he wuz here, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Maked me a squirtgun out o' some | 9 | /˘······· |
| Elder-bushes 'at growed out near | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Where wuz the brickyard--'way out clear | 8 | ···/···· |
| To where the toll-gate come! | 6 | ······ |
| So when we walked back home again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| He maked it, out in our woodhouse where | 11 | ·/˘···/˘/·· |
| Wuz the old workbench, an' the old jack-plane, | 10 | ···/······ |
| An' the old 'pokeshave, an' the tools all lay'n' | 11 | ··········· |
| Ist like he wants 'em there. | 6 | ······ |
| He sawed it first with the old hand-saw; | 9 | ········· |
| An' nen he peeled off the bark, an' got | 9 | ········· |
| Some glass an' scraped it; an' told 'bout Pa, | 9 | ········· |
| When he wuz a boy an' fooled his Ma, | 9 | ········· |
| An' the whippin' 'at he caught. | 7 | ······· |
| Nen Uncle Sidney, he took an' filed | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| A' old arn ramrod; an' one o' the ends | 10 | ···/······ |
| He screwed fast into the vise; an' smiled, | 9 | ········· |
| Thinkin', he said, o' when he wuz a child, | 10 | /˘········ |
| 'Fore him an' Pa wuz mens. | 6 | ······ |
| He punched out the peth, an' nen he put | 9 | ········· |
| A plug in the end with a hole notched through; | 10 | ·········· |
| Nen took the old drawey-knife an' cut | 9 | ········· |
| An' maked a handle 'at shoved clean shut | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| But ist where yer hand held to. | 7 | ······· |
| An' he wropt th'uther end with some string an' white | 11 | ··········· |
| Piece o' the sleeve of a' old tored shirt; | 9 | ········· |
| An' nen he showed me to hold it tight, | 9 | ········· |
| An' suck in the water an' work it right | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| An' it 'ud ist squirt an' squirt! | 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.