Analysis of Market Square

Alan Alexander Milne 1882 – 1956



I had a penny,
A bright new penny,
I took my penny
To the market square.
I wanted a rabbit,
A little brown rabbit,
And I looked for a rabbit
'Most everywhere.

For I went to the stall where they sold sweet lavender
("Only a penny for a bunch of lavender!").
"Have you got a rabbit, 'cos I don't want lavender?"
But they hadn't got a rabbit, not anywhere there.

I had a penny,
And I had another penny,
I took my pennies
To the market square.
I did want a rabbit,
A little baby rabbit,
And I looked for rabbits
'Most everywhere.

And I went to the stall where they sold fresh mackerel
("Now then! Tuppence for a fresh-caught mackerel!").
"Have you got a rabbit, 'cos I don't like mackerel?"
But they hadn't got a rabbit, not anywhere there.

I found a sixpence,
A little white sixpence.
I took it in my hand
To the market square.
I was buying my rabbit
I do like rabbits),
And I looked for my rabbit
'Most everywhere.

So I went to the stall where they sold fine saucepans
("Walk up, walk up, sixpence for a saucepan!").
"Could I have a rabbit, 'cos we've got two saucepans?"
But they hadn't got a rabbit, not anywhere there.

I had nuffin',
No, I hadn't got nuffin',
So I didn't go down
To the market square;
But I walked on the common,
The old-gold common...
And I saw little rabbits
'Most everywhere!

So I'm sorry for the people who sell fine saucepans,
I'm sorry for the people who sell fresh mackerel,
I'm sorry for the people who sell sweet lavender,
'Cos they haven't got a rabbit, not anywhere there!


Scheme AaaBcccB dddB AaeBccfB gggB eexBcfcB exeB aaxBhhfB egdb
Poetic Form
Metre 11010 01110 11110 10101 110010 010110 0111010 110 1111011111100 100101011100 1110101111100 111010101101 11010 01101010 11110 10101 111010 0101010 011110 110 0111011111100 1111011100 1110101111100 111010101101 1101 01011 111011 10101 1110110 11110 0111110 110 11110111111 11111101 11101011111 111010101101 111 111011 111011 10101 1111010 01110 0111010 110 111010101111 1101010111100 1101010111100 111010101101
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,462
Words 291
Sentences 24
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4, 8, 4
Lines Amount 48
Letters per line (avg) 23
Words per line (avg) 6
Letters per stanza (avg) 141
Words per stanza (avg) 35
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 18, 2023

1:30 min read
161

Alan Alexander Milne

Alan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work. more…

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