A Tale of the Airly Days
Oh! tell me a tale of the airly days--Of the times as they ust to be;"Piller of Fi-er" and "Shakespeare's Plays"Is a' most too deep fer me!I want plane facts, and I want plane words,Of the good old-fashioned ways,When speech run free as the songs of birds'Way back in the airly days.
Tell me a tale of the timber-lands--Of the old-time pioneers;Somepin' a pore man understandsWith his feelins's well as ears.Tell of the old log house,--aboutThe loft, and the puncheon flore--The old fi-er-place, with the crane swung out,And the latch-string thrugh the door.
Tell of the things jest as they was--They don't need no excuse!--Don't tech 'em up like the poets does,Tel theyr all too fine fer use!--Say they was 'leven in the fambily--Two beds, and the chist, below,And the trundle-beds that each helt three,And the clock and the old bureau.
Then blow the horn at the old back-doorTel the echoes all halloo,And the childern gethers home onc't more,Jest as they ust to do:Blow fer Pap tel he hears and comes,With Tomps and Elias, too,A-marchin' home, with the fife and drumsAnd the old Red White and Blue!
Blow and blow tel the sound draps lowAs the moan of the whipperwill,And wake up Mother, and Ruth and Jo,All sleepin' at Bethel Hill:Blow and call tel the faces allShine out in the back-log's blaze,And the shadders dance on the old hewed wallAs they did in the airly days.
Words in this poem
- piller n.
- One who pills or plunders.
- puncheon n.
- A figured stamp, die, or punch, used by goldsmiths, cutlers, etc. [F. poinçon awl, bodkin, crown, king-post, fr. L. punctio a pricking, fr. pungere to prick. See Pungent, and cf. Punch a tool, Punction.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- bethel n.
- A place of worship; a hallowed spot. S. F. Adams. [Heb. b house of God.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Tale of the Airly Days is in the public domain. This text is taken from Riley Farm-Rhymes, Project Gutenberg ebook #4783; 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, A Tale of the Airly Days, in Riley Farm-Rhymes (1883–1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4783, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/riley-farm-rhymes/a-tale-of-the-airly-days.html, id L01967.
Form and metre
A Tale of the Airly Days is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCACA daysA · beB · playsA · meB · wordsC · waysA · birdsC · daysA
- 2 ABABCDCD landsA · pioneersB · understandsA · earsB · aboutC · floreD · outC · doorD
- 3 ABAB---- wasA · excuseB · doesA · useB · fambily · below · three · bureau
- 4 ABABCBCB doorA · hallooB · moreA · doB · comesC · tooB · drumsC · blueB
- 5 ABABCDCD lowA · whipperwillB · joA · hillB · allC · blazeD · wallC · daysD
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh! tell me a tale of the airly days-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Of the times as they ust to be; | 8 | ········ |
| "Piller of Fi-er" and "Shakespeare's Plays" | 9 | /˘····/·· |
| Is a' most too deep fer me! | 7 | ······· |
| I want plane facts, and I want plane words, | 9 | ········· |
| Of the good old-fashioned ways, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| When speech run free as the songs of birds | 9 | ········· |
| 'Way back in the airly days. | 7 | ······· |
| Tell me a tale of the timber-lands-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Of the old-time pioneers; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Somepin' a pore man understands | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| With his feelins's well as ears. | 7 | ······· |
| Tell of the old log house,--about | 8 | ········ |
| The loft, and the puncheon flore-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The old fi-er-place, with the crane swung out, | 10 | ·········· |
| And the latch-string thrugh the door. | 7 | ······· |
| Tell of the things jest as they was-- | 8 | ········ |
| They don't need no excuse!-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Don't tech 'em up like the poets does, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Tel theyr all too fine fer use!-- | 7 | ······· |
| Say they was 'leven in the fambily-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Two beds, and the chist, below, | 7 | ······· |
| And the trundle-beds that each helt three, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| And the clock and the old bureau. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Then blow the horn at the old back-door | 9 | ········· |
| Tel the echoes all halloo, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| And the childern gethers home onc't more, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Jest as they ust to do: | 6 | ······ |
| Blow fer Pap tel he hears and comes, | 8 | ········ |
| With Tomps and Elias, too, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| A-marchin' home, with the fife and drums | 9 | ········· |
| And the old Red White and Blue! | 7 | ······· |
| Blow and blow tel the sound draps low | 8 | ········ |
| As the moan of the whipperwill, | 8 | ········ |
| And wake up Mother, and Ruth and Jo, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| All sleepin' at Bethel Hill: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Blow and call tel the faces all | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shine out in the back-log's blaze, | 7 | ······· |
| And the shadders dance on the old hewed wall | 10 | ·········· |
| As they did in the airly days. | 8 | ········ |
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.