Who Santy-Claus Wuz
Jes' a little bit o' feller--I remember still--Ust to almost cry fer Christmas, like a youngster will.Fourth o' July's nothin' to it!--New Year's ain't a smell!Easter-Sunday--Circus-day--jes' all dead in the shell!Lawzy, though! at night, you know, to set around an' hearThe old folks work the story off about the sledge an' deer,An' "Santy" skootin' round the roof, all wrapt in fur an' fuzz--Long aforeI knowed who"Santy-Claus" wuz!
Ust to wait, an' set up late, a week er two ahead;Couldn't hardly keep awake, ner wouldn't go to bed;Kittle stewin' on the fire, an' Mother settin' hereDarnin' socks, an' rockin' in the skreeky rockin'-cheer;Pap gap', an' wonder where it wuz the money went,An' quar'l with his frosted heels, an' spill his liniment;An' me a-dreamin' sleigh-bells when the clock 'ud whir an' buzz,Long aforeI knowed who"Santy-Claus" wuz!
Size the fire-place up an' figger how "Ole Santy" couldManage to come down the chimbly, like they said he would;Wisht 'at I could hide an' see him--wunderd what he'd sayEf he ketched a feller layin' fer him thataway!But I bet on him, an' liked him, same as ef he hadTurned to pat me on the back an' say, "Look here, my lad,Here's my pack,--jes' he'p yourse'f, like all good boys does!"Long aforeI knowed who"Santy-Claus" wuz!
Wisht that yarn was true about him, as it 'peared to be--Truth made out o' lies like that-un's good enough fer me!--Wisht I still wuz so confidin' I could jes' go wildOver hangin' up my stockin's, like the little childClimbin' in my lap to-night, an' beggin' me to tell'Bout them reindeers, and "Old Santy" that she loves so wellI'm half sorry fer this little-girl-sweetheart of his--Long aforeShe knows who"Santy-Claus" is!
Words in this poem
- feller n.
- One who, or that which, fells, knocks or cuts down; a machine for felling trees.
- youngster n.
- A young person; a youngling; a lad.
- folks 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.]
- fuzz v. t.
- To make drunk. Wood.
- afore prep.
- Before (in all its senses).
- ahead adv.
- In or to the front; in advance; onward. [Pref. a- + head.]
- kittle v. i.
- To bring forth young, as a cat; to kitten; to litter. [Prov. [Cf. Kit a kitten.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- frosted a.
- Covered with hoarfrost or anything resembling hoarfrost; ornamented with frosting; also, frost-bitten; as, a frosted cake; frosted glass.
- spill n.
- A bit of wood split off; a splinter. [sq. root170. Cf. Spell a splinter.]
- liniment n.
- A liquid or semiliquid preparation of a consistence thinner than an ointment, applied to the skin by friction, esp. one used as a sedative or a stimulant. [L. linimentum, fr. linire, linere, to besmear, anoint : cf. F. liniment. Cf. Letter, Lime a viscous substance.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Who Santy-Claus Wuz 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, Who Santy-Claus Wuz, in Riley Child-Rhymes (1890), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9777, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/riley-child-rhymes/who-santy-claus-wuz.html, id L25051.
Form and metre
Who Santy-Claus Wuz is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines. The metre is trochaic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic heptameter.
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 AABBCC---- stillA · willA · smellB · shellB · hearC · deerC · fuzz · afore · who · wuz
- 2 AABBCC---- aheadA · bedA · hereB · cheerB · wentC · linimentC · buzz · afore · who · wuz
- 3 AABBCC---- couldA · wouldA · sayB · thatawayB · hadC · ladC · does · afore · who · wuz
- 4 AABBCCD--D beA · meA · wildB · childB · tellC · wellC · hisD · afore · who · isD
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Jes' a little bit o' feller--I remember still-- | 13 | ··/˘··/˘·˘/˘· |
| Ust to almost cry fer Christmas, like a youngster will. | 13 | ··/···/˘··/˘· |
| Fourth o' July's nothin' to it!--New Year's ain't a smell! | 13 | ···//˘······· |
| Easter-Sunday--Circus-day--jes' all dead in the shell! | 13 | /˘/·/˘······· |
| Lawzy, though! at night, you know, to set around an' hear | 13 | ············· |
| The old folks work the story off about the sledge an' deer, | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| An' "Santy" skootin' round the roof, all wrapt in fur an' fuzz-- | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| Long afore | 3 | ·˘/ |
| I knowed who | 3 | ··· |
| "Santy-Claus" wuz! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Ust to wait, an' set up late, a week er two ahead; | 13 | ···········˘/ |
| Couldn't hardly keep awake, ner wouldn't go to bed; | 13 | /˘/˘·˘/·/˘··· |
| Kittle stewin' on the fire, an' Mother settin' here | 13 | /˘····/·/˘··· |
| Darnin' socks, an' rockin' in the skreeky rockin'-cheer; | 13 | ····/˘····/˘· |
| Pap gap', an' wonder where it wuz the money went, | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| An' quar'l with his frosted heels, an' spill his liniment; | 13 | ····/˘····/˘˘ |
| An' me a-dreamin' sleigh-bells when the clock 'ud whir an' buzz, | 14 | ·············· |
| Long afore | 3 | ·˘/ |
| I knowed who | 3 | ··· |
| "Santy-Claus" wuz! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Size the fire-place up an' figger how "Ole Santy" could | 13 | ··/·······/˘· |
| Manage to come down the chimbly, like they said he would; | 13 | /˘··········· |
| Wisht 'at I could hide an' see him--wunderd what he'd say | 13 | ············· |
| Ef he ketched a feller layin' fer him thataway! | 13 | ···˘·/˘······ |
| But I bet on him, an' liked him, same as ef he had | 13 | ············· |
| Turned to pat me on the back an' say, "Look here, my lad, | 13 | ············· |
| Here's my pack,--jes' he'p yourse'f, like all good boys does!" | 12 | ············ |
| Long afore | 3 | ·˘/ |
| I knowed who | 3 | ··· |
| "Santy-Claus" wuz! | 4 | /˘·· |
| Wisht that yarn was true about him, as it 'peared to be-- | 13 | ············· |
| Truth made out o' lies like that-un's good enough fer me!-- | 13 | ·········˘/·· |
| Wisht I still wuz so confidin' I could jes' go wild | 13 | ············· |
| Over hangin' up my stockin's, like the little child | 13 | ··/˘······/˘· |
| Climbin' in my lap to-night, an' beggin' me to tell | 13 | ············· |
| 'Bout them reindeers, and "Old Santy" that she loves so well | 13 | ··/···/˘····· |
| I'm half sorry fer this little-girl-sweetheart of his-- | 13 | ··/˘··/˘·/··· |
| Long afore | 3 | ·˘/ |
| She knows who | 3 | ··· |
| "Santy-Claus" is! | 4 | /˘·· |
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