What Is Fancy?
Charles Lamb 1775 (Inner Temple, London) – 1834 (Edmonton, London)
SISTER.
I am to write three lines, and you
Three others that will rhyme.
There-now I've done my task.
BROTHER.
Three stupid lines as e'er I knew.
When you've the pen next time,
Some question of me ask.
SISTER.
Then tell me, brother, and pray mind,
Brother, you tell me true:
What sort of thing is fancy?
BROTHER.
By all that I can ever find,
'Tis something that is very new,
And what no dunces can see.
SISTER.
That is not half the way to tell
What fancy is about;
So pray now tell me more.
BROTHER.
Sister, I think 'twere quite as well
That you should find it out;
So think the matter o'er.
SISTER.
It's what comes in our heads when we
Play at 'Let's-make-believe,'
And when we play at 'Guessing.'
BROTHER.
And I have heard it said to be
A talent often makes us grieve,
And sometimes proves a blessing.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 48 sec read
- 119 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | Abcd Abcd Aebf Aebf Aghx Agha Afij Afij |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 780 |
Words | 157 |
Stanzas | 8 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
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"What Is Fancy?" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/5434/what-is-fancy?>.
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