Dr. Doddridge's Dog
My little dog, who blessed youWith such white toothy-pegs?And who was it that dressed youIn such a lot of legs?
Perhaps he never told you!Perhaps you know quite well,And beg me not to scold youFor you can't speak to tell!
I'll tell you, little brother,In case you do not know:--One only, not another,Could make us two just so.
You love me?--Quiet!--I'm proving!--It must be God aboveThat filled those eyes with loving:He was the first to love!
One day he'll stop all sadness--Hark to the nightingale!Oh blessed God of gladness!--Come, doggie, wag your tail!
That's--Thank you, God!--He gave youOf life this little taste;And with more life he'll save you,Not let you go to waste!
He says now, Live together,And share your bite and sup;And then he'll say, Come hither--And lift us both high up.
Words in this poem
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dr. Doddridge's Dog is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, Dr. Doddridge's Dog, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/dr-doddridge-s-dog.html, id L22355.
Form and metre
Dr. Doddridge's Dog is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABAB youA · pegsB · youA · legsB
- 2 ABAB youA · wellB · youA · tellB
- 3 ABAB brotherA · knowB · anotherA · soB
- 4 -A-A proving · aboveA · loving · loveA
- 5 ABAB sadnessA · nightingaleB · gladnessA · tailB
- 6 ABAB youA · tasteB · youA · wasteB
- 7 -A-A together · supA · hither · upA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My little dog, who blessed you | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| With such white toothy-pegs? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And who was it that dressed you | 7 | ······· |
| In such a lot of legs? | 6 | ······ |
| Perhaps he never told you! | 6 | ˘/·/·· |
| Perhaps you know quite well, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| And beg me not to scold you | 7 | ······· |
| For you can't speak to tell! | 6 | ······ |
| I'll tell you, little brother, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| In case you do not know:-- | 6 | ······ |
| One only, not another, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Could make us two just so. | 6 | ······ |
| You love me?--Quiet!--I'm proving!-- | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| It must be God above | 6 | ······ |
| That filled those eyes with loving: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He was the first to love! | 6 | ······ |
| One day he'll stop all sadness-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Hark to the nightingale! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Oh blessed God of gladness!-- | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Come, doggie, wag your tail! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That's--Thank you, God!--He gave you | 7 | ······· |
| Of life this little taste; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And with more life he'll save you, | 7 | ······· |
| Not let you go to waste! | 6 | ······ |
| He says now, Live together, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And share your bite and sup; | 6 | ······ |
| And then he'll say, Come hither-- | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And lift us both high up. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.