Analysis of Doctor Rabelais
Eugene Field 1850 (St. Louis) – 1895 (Chicago)
Once -- it was many years ago.
In early wedded life,
Ere yet my loved one had become
A very knowing wife,
She came to me and said: 'My dear,
I think (and do not you?)
That we should have about the house
A doctor's book or two.
'Our little ones have sundry ills
Which I should understand
And cure myself, if I but had
A doctor's book at hand.
Why not economize, my dear,
In point of doctor's biils
By purchasing the means to treat
Our litt;e household ills?'
Dear, honest, patient little wife!
She did not even guess
She offered me the very prize
I hankered to possess.
'You argus, wisely, wife,' quoth I,
'Proceed without delay
To find and comprehend the works
Of Doctor Rabelais.'
I wrote the title out for her
(She'd never heard the name),
And presently she bought those books,
And home she lugged the same;
I clearly read this taunting boast
On her triumphant brow:
'Aha, ye venal doctors all,
Ye are outwitted now!'
Those volumes stood upon the shelf
A month or two unread,
Save as such times by night I conned
Their precious wit in bed;
But once -- it was a wintry time --
I heard my loved one say:
'This child is croupy; I'll consult
My doctor, Rabelais!'
Soon from her delusive dream
My beauteous bride awoke.
Too soon she grasped the fulness of
My bibliomaniac joke.
There came a sudden, shocking change,
As you may well suppose,
And with her reprehensive voice
The temperature arose.
But that was many years ago,
In early wedded life,
And that dear lady has become
A very knowing wife;
For she hath learned from Rabelais
What elsewhere is agreed:
The plague of bibliomania is
A cureless ill indeed.
And still at night, when all the rest
Are hushed in sweet repose,
O'er those two interdicted tomes
I laugh and nod and doze.
From worldly ills and business cares
My weary mind is lured,
And by that doctor's magic art
My ailments all are cured.
So my dear, knowing little wife
Is glad that it is so,
And with a smile recalls the trick
I played her years ago;
And whensoe'er dyspeptic pangs
Compel me to their sway,
The saucy girl bids me consult
My Doctor Rabelais!
Scheme | aBcBdefe ghxhdfxg bixixjxf xkxkxlxl xmxmxjnF xoxoxpxp aBcBfqxq xpxpxrxr baxaxjnF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11110101 010101 11111101 010101 11110111 110111 11110101 010111 101011101 11101 0111111 010111 1101011 011101 11000111 10111 11010101 111101 11010101 11101 11010111 010101 1100101 1101 11010110 110101 01001111 011101 11011101 100101 1110101 11101 11010101 011101 11111111 110101 11110101 111111 1111101 1101 11011 11101 1111011 111 11010101 111101 01011 010001 11110101 010101 01110101 010101 111111 11101 01111 01101 01111101 110101 10111001 110101 11010101 110111 01110101 110111 11110101 111111 0101101 110101 01001 011111 01011101 1101 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 2,009 |
Words | 393 |
Sentences | 18 |
Stanzas | 9 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 72 |
Letters per line (avg) | 22 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 178 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 43 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:58 min read
- 82 Views
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"Doctor Rabelais" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/12936/doctor-rabelais>.
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