The Donkey in the Cart to the Horse in the Carriage
I say! hey! cousin there! I mustn't call you brother!Yet you have a tail behind, and I have another!You pull, and I pull, though we don't pull together:You have less hardship, and I have more weather!
Your legs are long, mine are short; I am lean, you are fatter;Your step is bold and free, mine goes pitter-patter;Your head is in the air, and mine hangs down like lead--But then my two great ears are so heavy on my head!
You need not whisk your stump, nor turn away your nose;Poor donkeys ain't so stupid as rich horses may suppose!I could feed in any manger just as well as you,Though I don't despise a thistle--with sauce of dust and dew!
T'other day a bishop's cob stopped before me in a lane,With a tail as broad as oil-cake, and a close-clipped hoggy mane;I stood sideways to the hedge, but he did not want to pass,And he was so full of corn he didn't care about the grass.
Quoth the cob, "You are a donkey of a most peculiar breed!You've just eaten up a thistle that was going fast to seed!If you had but let it be, you might have raised a crop!To many a coming dinner you have put a sad stop!"
I told him I was hungry, and to leave one of tenWould have spoiled my best dinner, the one I wanted then.Said the cob, "I ought to know the truth about dinners,I don't eat on roadsides like poor tramping sinners!"
"Why don't you take it easy? You are working much too hard!In the shafts you'll die one day, if you're not upon your guard!Have pity on your friends: work seems to you delectable,But believe me such a cart--excuse me--'s not respectable!"
I told him I must trot in the shafts where I was put,Nor look round at the cart, but set foremost my best foot;It was rather rickety, and the axle wanted oil,But I always slept at night with the deep sleep of toil!
"All very fine," he said, "to wag your ears and parley,And pretend you quite despise my bellyfuls of barley!But with blows and with starving, and with labour over-hard,By spurs! a week will see you in the knacker's yard."
I thanked him for his counsel, and said I thought I'd take it, really,If he'd spare me half a feed out of four feeds daily.He tossed his head at that: "Now don't be cheeky!" said he;"When I find I'm getting fat, I'll think of you: keep steady."
"Good-bye!" I said--and say, for you are such another!Why, now I look at you, I see you are his brother!Yes, thank you for your kick: 'twas all that you could spare,For, sure, they clip and singe you very, very bare!
My cart it is upsets you! but in that cart behindThere's no dirt or rubbish, no bags of gold or wind!There's potatoes there, and wine, and corn, and mustard-seed,And a good can of milk, and some honey too, indeed!
Few blows I get, some hay, and of water many a draught:I tell you he's no coster that sits upon my shaft!And for the knacker's yard--that's not my destined bed:No donkey ever yet saw himself there lying dead.
Words in this poem
- patter v. i.
- To strike with a quick succession of slight, sharp sounds; as, pattering rain or hail; pattering feet. [Freq. of pat to strike gently.]
- manger n.
- A trough or open box in which fodder is placed for horses or cattle to eat. [F. mangeoire, fr. manger to eat, fr. L. manducare, fr. mandere to chew. Cf. Mandible, Manducate.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- donkey n.
- An ass; or (less frequently) a mule. [Prob. dun, in allusion to the color of the animal + a dim. termination.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- delectable a.
- Highly pleasing; delightful. [OF. delitable, OF. delitable, F. délectable, fr. L. delectabilis, fr. delectare to delight. See Delight.]
- rickety a.
- Affected with rickets.
- cheeky
- a Brazen-faced; impudent; bold.
- 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; -]
- coster n.
- One who hawks about fruit, green vegetables, fish, etc. [Abbrev. of costermonger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Donkey in the Cart to the Horse in the Carriage 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, The Donkey in the Cart to the Horse in the Carriage, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/the-donkey-in-the-cart-to-the-horse-in-the-carriage.html, id L22512.
Form and metre
The Donkey in the Cart to the Horse in the Carriage is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 12 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%).
See other poems in alexandrines.
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 AABB brotherA · anotherA · togetherB · weatherB
- 2 AABB fatterA · patterA · leadB · headB
- 3 AABB noseA · supposeA · youB · dewB
- 4 AABB laneA · maneA · passB · grassB
- 5 AABB breedA · seedA · cropB · stopB
- 6 AABB tenA · thenA · dinnersB · sinnersB
- 7 AABB hardA · guardA · delectableB · respectableB
- 8 AABB putA · footA · oilB · toilB
- 9 AABB parleyA · barleyA · hardB · yardB
- 11 AABB anotherA · brotherA · spareB · bareB
- 12 AABB behindA · windA · seedB · indeedB
- 13 AABB draughtA · shaftA · bedB · deadB
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 alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I say! hey! cousin there! I mustn't call you brother! | 13 | ···/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Yet you have a tail behind, and I have another! | 13 | ··········˘/˘ |
| You pull, and I pull, though we don't pull together: | 12 | ·········˘/˘ |
| You have less hardship, and I have more weather! | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Your legs are long, mine are short; I am lean, you are fatter; | 14 | ············/˘ |
| Your step is bold and free, mine goes pitter-patter; | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Your head is in the air, and mine hangs down like lead-- | 12 | ············ |
| But then my two great ears are so heavy on my head! | 13 | ········/˘··· |
| You need not whisk your stump, nor turn away your nose; | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| Poor donkeys ain't so stupid as rich horses may suppose! | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| I could feed in any manger just as well as you, | 13 | ····/˘/˘····· |
| Though I don't despise a thistle--with sauce of dust and dew! | 14 | ···˘/·/˘······ |
| T'other day a bishop's cob stopped before me in a lane, | 15 | ˘/˘··/˘········ |
| With a tail as broad as oil-cake, and a close-clipped hoggy mane; | 15 | ··············· |
| I stood sideways to the hedge, but he did not want to pass, | 14 | ··/··········· |
| And he was so full of corn he didn't care about the grass. | 15 | ········/˘····· |
| Quoth the cob, "You are a donkey of a most peculiar breed! | 15 | ······/˘···˘/˘· |
| You've just eaten up a thistle that was going fast to seed! | 14 | ··/˘··/˘··/··· |
| If you had but let it be, you might have raised a crop! | 13 | ············· |
| To many a coming dinner you have put a sad stop!" | 13 | ·/·/˘/˘······ |
| I told him I was hungry, and to leave one of ten | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Would have spoiled my best dinner, the one I wanted then. | 13 | ·····/˘···/˘· |
| Said the cob, "I ought to know the truth about dinners, | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| I don't eat on roadsides like poor tramping sinners!" | 12 | ····/···/˘/˘ |
| "Why don't you take it easy? You are working much too hard! | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘··· |
| In the shafts you'll die one day, if you're not upon your guard! | 14 | ·············· |
| Have pity on your friends: work seems to you delectable, | 14 | ·/˘·······˘/˘˘ |
| But believe me such a cart--excuse me--'s not respectable!" | 15 | ·˘/····˘/···˘/˘ |
| I told him I must trot in the shafts where I was put, | 13 | ············· |
| Nor look round at the cart, but set foremost my best foot; | 13 | ········/···· |
| It was rather rickety, and the axle wanted oil, | 13 | ··/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| But I always slept at night with the deep sleep of toil! | 13 | ··/·········· |
| "All very fine," he said, "to wag your ears and parley, | 13 | ·/˘········/˘ |
| And pretend you quite despise my bellyfuls of barley! | 14 | ·˘/··˘/·····/˘ |
| But with blows and with starving, and with labour over-hard, | 13 | ·····/˘··/··· |
| By spurs! a week will see you in the knacker's yard." | 12 | ············ |
| I thanked him for his counsel, and said I thought I'd take it, really, | 16 | ·····/˘·······/˘ |
| If he'd spare me half a feed out of four feeds daily. | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| He tossed his head at that: "Now don't be cheeky!" said he; | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| "When I find I'm getting fat, I'll think of you: keep steady." | 14 | ····/˘······/˘ |
| "Good-bye!" I said--and say, for you are such another! | 13 | ··········˘/˘ |
| Why, now I look at you, I see you are his brother! | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| Yes, thank you for your kick: 'twas all that you could spare, | 12 | ············ |
| For, sure, they clip and singe you very, very bare! | 12 | ·······/˘/˘· |
| My cart it is upsets you! but in that cart behind | 13 | ····˘/······· |
| There's no dirt or rubbish, no bags of gold or wind! | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| There's potatoes there, and wine, and corn, and mustard-seed, | 13 | ·˘/˘······/˘· |
| And a good can of milk, and some honey too, indeed! | 13 | ········/˘·˘/ |
| Few blows I get, some hay, and of water many a draught: | 13 | ········/˘/·· |
| I tell you he's no coster that sits upon my shaft! | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| And for the knacker's yard--that's not my destined bed: | 13 | ·········/˘˘· |
| No donkey ever yet saw himself there lying dead. | 13 | ·/˘/˘··˘/·/˘· |
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.