TRB 13: Poor but Honest by Anon

[Suzanne]

This thread is part of "The Rattle Bag 20" If you would like more information you can find it here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15198

Hello,

Something with meter was on JohnLott's list and I thought it would be a bit of fun.
8-7-8-7, alternating rhyme for ten verses. Seems like each word was thoughtfully placed. The smoother it reads the harder, we know, the more talent it took. This was anonymously written, I suppose finding where it was first published or discovers may shed some light on what was happening in public life at the time.

It is poetry "for the people". Th message is pretty clear and the narrative direct. Do you like it? Would it be on your list?
It is pleasant to read aloud. It is the metered form that is the easiest for me to produce and one of the hardest to take seriously.

Enjoy the read and let us know what you think.



by Anonymous

She Was Poor But She Was Honest


She was poor but she was honest,
Victim of a rich man's whim,
First he loved her, then he left her,
And she lost her honest name.

Then she ran away to London,
For to hide her grief and shame;
There she met another squire,
And she lost her name again.

See her riding in a carriage,
In the Park and all so gay:
All the nibs and nobby persons
Come to pass the time of day.

See the little old-world village
Where her aged parents live,
Drinking the champagne she sends them;
But they never can forgive.

In the rich man's arms she flutters,
Like a bird with broken wing:
First he loved her, then he left her,
And she hasn't got a ring.

See him in the splendid mansion,
Entertaining with the best,
While the girl that he has ruined,
Entertains a sordid guest.

See him in the House of Commons,
Making laws to put down crime,
While the victim of his passions
Trails her way through mud and slime.

Standing on the bridge at midnight,
She says: 'Farewell, blighted Love.'
There's a scream, a splash — Good Heavens!
What is she a-doing of?

Then they drag her from the river,
Water from her clothes they wrang,
For they thought that she was drownded;
But the corpse got up and sang:

'It's the same the whole world over;
It's the poor that gets the blame,
It's the rich that get the pleasure.
Isn't it a blooming shame?'

"She Was Poor But She Was Honest" by Anonymous. Public domain.





Warmly,
Suzanne

[Nash]

I completely missed this one in The Rattlebag, I don't think that I've ever read it before. It sort of reminds me of those old music-hall songs, I can imagine a large lady with a cockney accent singing it.

The metre is interesting, a trochaic tetrameter alternating with another one with the unstressed end syllable removed. Does that have a name?

I wouldn't necessarily say that it's great poetry but it's certainly good fun. There are some lovely colloquialisms in there, the pronunciation of squire as two syllables to fit the rythm for instance; "What is she a-doing of?" is another good one.

[JohnLott]

Fun, Yes.

I remember it being sung. A crude version was also doing the rounds of the folk scene, (Thames Side Four, Long John Baldry - not to say they sang it), and there were several others including Paddy Roberts and The Ballad of Bethnal Green.

Nostalgic I guess. More rhyming than poetry perhaps.
Also Music Hall material:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgR9xA2Tcbw

One of my twenty and a good counterpoint to Larkin, Eliot and Frost



J.

[delph_ambi]

I've only ever known this as a song. Didn't realise it was a 'poem' at all. Can't read it without singing the tune.

Nash, how on earth would you pronounce 'squire' without two syllables? I can't do it. 'Squi - yer' is how I'd say it. Try any other way and it comes out as 'squar'. Mind, I use two syllables for 'our' (ow - er) while hubby pronounces it more as 'are' (he's more posh than me) so maybe it's possible.

[Nash]

Nash, how on earth would you pronounce 'squire' without two syllables? I can't do it. 'Squi - yer' is how I'd say it. Try any other way and it comes out as 'squar'. Mind, I use two syllables for 'our' (ow - er) while hubby pronounces it more as 'are' (he's more posh than me) so maybe it's possible.

I pronounce it with two syllables too Delph, but I think that it's perhaps more "correct" to pronounce it as one, if your posh that is, in that good old-fashioned BBC, clipped way of speaking. It just reminds me of someone once picking me up on the way that I pronounce reservoir (res-erv-wy-er).

I didn't realise that it was actually a song, anyone got a link to the tune?

[Nash]

I've found a couple of variations of the song on youtube, this '60s oddity seems to be closest to our lyrics though.

Funky!

[Suzanne]

"All the nibs and nobby persons"

These are new words to me. Are they still used?

He's a such a nib?

They are so nobby?


Thanks for the clips, they have been enriching. I didn't like the song much, it was so different than the tune in my head.
I liked the voice of the guy John posted though it seems silly to read one version and post another.

Who is going to write one of these? a little meter ballad anyone?

Suzanne

[Nash]

"All the nibs and nobby persons"

These are new words to me. Are they still used?

He's a such a nib?

They are so nobby?

Yes, we still use them on a daily basis over here, we also like put on our toppers and dance around in the streets with our thumbs in our braces,
just like in Oliver!.............but only when Americans are not looking!

[Suzanne]

I tip my head back and laugh, you teaser.


but stopping, I sit up straight and say,

Who's Oliver?



Wink, lol.

[JohnLott]

Another laugh for Suzanne.

A complete red herring (but an important red herring nonetheless):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbSEJ5v6 ... detailpage



J.

[Suzanne]

Thanks for that John, I smiled all the way through to the end. Quiet a light and happy rhythm.
The tune is one that will stick with me for a while.

Pg threads can provide hours of cultural entertainment. Lol.

Fun song.
Suzanne