Apple-Pie and Cheese
Full many a sinful notionConceived of foreign powersHas come across the oceanTo harm this land of ours;And heresies called fashionsHave modesty effaced,And baleful, morbid passionsCorrupt our native taste.O tempora! O mores!What profanations theseThat seek to dim the gloriesOf apple-pie and cheese!
I'm glad my educationEnables me to standAgainst the vile temptationHeld out on every hand;Eschewing all the tittlesWith vanity replete,I'm loyal to the victualsOur grandsires used to eat!I'm glad I've got three willing boysTo hang around and teaseTheir mother for the filling joysOf apple-pie and cheese!
Your flavored creams and icesAnd your dainty angel-foodAre mighty fine devicesTo regale the dainty dude;Your terrapin and oysters,With wine to wash 'em down,Are just the thing for roistersWhen painting of the town;No flippant, sugared notionShall my appetite appease,Or bate my soul's devotionTo apple-pie and cheese!
The pie my Julia makes me(God bless her Yankee ways!)On memory's pinions takes meTo dear Green Mountain days;And seems like I see MotherLean on the window-sill,A-handin' me and brotherWhat she knows 'll keep us still;And these feelings are so grateful,Says I, "Julia, if you please,I'll take another platefulOf that apple-pie and cheese!"
And cheese! No alien it, sir,That's brought across the sea,--No Dutch antique, nor Switzer,Nor glutinous de Brie;There's nothing I abhor soAs mawmets of this ilk--Give me the harmless morceauThat's made of true-blue milk!No matter what conditionsDyspeptic come to feaze,The best of all physiciansIs apple-pie and cheese!
Though ribalds may decry 'em,For these twin boons we stand,Partaking thrice per diemOf their fulness out of hand;No enervating fashionShall cheat us of our rightTo gratify our passionWith a mouthful at a bite!We'll cut it square or bias,Or any way we please,And faith shall justify usWhen we carve our pie and cheese!
De gustibus, 't is stated,Non disputandum est.Which meaneth, when translated,That all is for the best.So let the foolish choose 'emThe vapid sweets of sin,I will not disabuse 'emOf the heresy they're in;But I, when I undress meEach night, upon my kneesWill ask the Lord to bless meWith apple-pie and cheese!
Words in this poem 18
- mores n.
- Customs; habits; esp., customs conformity to which is more or less obligatory; customary law.
- replete a.
- Filled again; completely filled; full; charged; abounding. [L. repletus, p. p. of replere to fill again, fill up; pref. re- re- + plere to fill, akin to plenus full: cf. F. replet corpulent. See Plenty, Replenish.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- regale n.
- A prerogative of royalty. Johnson. [LL. regale, pl. regalia, fr. L. regalis: cf. F. régale. See Regal.]
- dude n.
- A kind of dandy; especially, one characterized by an ultrafashionable style of dress and other affectations.
- terrapin n.
- Any one of numerous species of tortoises living in fresh and brackish waters. Many of them are valued for food. [Written also terapin, terrapen, terrapene, and turapen.] [Probably of American Indian origin.]
- flippant a.
- Of smooth, fluent, and rapid speech; speaking with ease and rapidity; having a voluble tongue; talkative. [Prov. E. flip to move nimbly; cf. W. llipa soft, limber, pliant, or Icel. fleipa to babble, prattle. Cf. Flip, Fillip, Flap, Flipper.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- bate n.
- Strife; contention. [Prob. abbrev. from debate.]
- plateful n.
- Enough to fill a plate; as much as a plate will hold.
- switzer n.
- A native or inhabitant of Switzerland; a Swiss. [Cf. G. schweizer. Cf. Swiss.]
- abhor v. i.
- To shrink back with horror, disgust, or dislike; to be contrary or averse; -- with from.
- morceau n.
- A bit; a morsel. [F.]
- dyspeptic a.
- Pertaining to dyspepsia; having dyspepsia; as, a dyspeptic or dyspeptical symptom.
- feaze v. t.
- To untwist; to unravel, as the end of a rope. Johnson. [Cf. OE. faseln to ravel, fr. AS. fæs fringe; akin to G. fasen to separate fibers or threads, fasen, faser, thread, filament, OHG. faso.]
- decry v. t.
- To cry down; to censure as faulty, mean, or worthless; to clamor against; to blame clamorously; to discredit; to disparage. [F. décrier, OF. descrier; pref. des- (L. dis-) + crier to cry. See Cry, and cf. Descry.]
- mouthful n.
- As much as is usually put into the mouth at one time.
- disabuse v. t.
- To set free from mistakes; to undeceive; to disengage from fallacy or deception; to set right. [Pref. dis- + abuse; cf. F. désabuser.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Apple-Pie and Cheese is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, Apple-Pie and Cheese, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/apple-pie-and-cheese.html, id L24633.
Form and metre
Apple-Pie and Cheese is 84 lines in 7 stanzas of 12 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDEFEF, in 3 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABC-C-DDDD notionA · powersB · oceanA · oursB · fashionsC · effaced · passionsC · taste · moresD · theseD · gloriesD · cheeseD
- 2 ABABCDCDEFEF educationA · standB · temptationA · handB · tittlesC · repleteD · victualsC · eatD · boysE · teaseF · joysE · cheeseF
- 3 ABABCDCDEFEF icesA · foodB · devicesA · dudeB · oystersC · downD · roistersC · townD · notionE · appeaseF · devotionE · cheeseF
- 4 ABABCDCDEFEF meA · waysB · meA · daysB · motherC · sillD · brotherC · stillD · gratefulE · pleaseF · platefulE · cheeseF
- 5 -A-ABCBCDEDE sir · seaA · switzer · brieA · soB · ilkC · morceauB · milkC · conditionsD · feazeE · physiciansD · cheeseE
- 6 -A-ABCBCDEDE em · standA · diem · handA · fashionB · rightC · passionB · biteC · biasD · pleaseE · usD · cheeseE
- 7 A-A-BCBCDEDE statedA · est · translatedA · best · emB · sinC · emB · inC · meD · kneesE · meD · cheeseE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Full many a sinful notion | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Conceived of foreign powers | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Has come across the ocean | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| To harm this land of ours; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And heresies called fashions | 8 | ·/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Have modesty effaced, | 7 | ·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| And baleful, morbid passions | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Corrupt our native taste. | 7 | ˘//˘/˘· |
| O tempora! O mores! | 7 | ·····/· |
| What profanations these | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| That seek to dim the glories | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Of apple-pie and cheese! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I'm glad my education | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Enables me to stand | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Against the vile temptation | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Held out on every hand; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Eschewing all the tittles | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| With vanity replete, | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| I'm loyal to the victuals | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Our grandsires used to eat! | 7 | /˘····· |
| I'm glad I've got three willing boys | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To hang around and tease | 6 | ······ |
| Their mother for the filling joys | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of apple-pie and cheese! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Your flavored creams and ices | 8 | ·/˘˘··/˘ |
| And your dainty angel-food | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Are mighty fine devices | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| To regale the dainty dude; | 8 | ·˘/˘·/˘· |
| Your terrapin and oysters, | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| With wine to wash 'em down, | 6 | ······ |
| Are just the thing for roisters | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| When painting of the town; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No flippant, sugared notion | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Shall my appetite appease, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Or bate my soul's devotion | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| To apple-pie and cheese! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The pie my Julia makes me | 7 | ······· |
| (God bless her Yankee ways!) | 6 | ···/˘· |
| On memory's pinions takes me | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| To dear Green Mountain days; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And seems like I see Mother | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Lean on the window-sill, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A-handin' me and brother | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| What she knows 'll keep us still; | 7 | ······· |
| And these feelings are so grateful, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Says I, "Julia, if you please, | 7 | ······· |
| I'll take another plateful | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Of that apple-pie and cheese!" | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And cheese! No alien it, sir, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| That's brought across the sea,-- | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| No Dutch antique, nor Switzer, | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Nor glutinous de Brie; | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| There's nothing I abhor so | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| As mawmets of this ilk-- | 6 | ······ |
| Give me the harmless morceau | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| That's made of true-blue milk! | 6 | ······ |
| No matter what conditions | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Dyspeptic come to feaze, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| The best of all physicians | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Is apple-pie and cheese! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Though ribalds may decry 'em, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| For these twin boons we stand, | 6 | ······ |
| Partaking thrice per diem | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Of their fulness out of hand; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| No enervating fashion | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Shall cheat us of our right | 7 | ····/˘· |
| To gratify our passion | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| With a mouthful at a bite! | 7 | ··/···· |
| We'll cut it square or bias, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or any way we please, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And faith shall justify us | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| When we carve our pie and cheese! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| De gustibus, 't is stated, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Non disputandum est. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Which meaneth, when translated, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| That all is for the best. | 6 | ······ |
| So let the foolish choose 'em | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| The vapid sweets of sin, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I will not disabuse 'em | 7 | ···˘˘/· |
| Of the heresy they're in; | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| But I, when I undress me | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Each night, upon my knees | 6 | ······ |
| Will ask the Lord to bless me | 7 | ······· |
| With apple-pie and cheese! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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