In the Fashion
A lion has a tail and a very fine tail,And so has an elephant, and so has a whale,And so has a crocodile, and so has a quail—They’ve all got tails but me.
If I had sixpence I would buy one;I’d say to the shopman, “Let me try one”;I’d say to the elephant, “This is my one.”They’d all come round to see.
Then I’d say to the lion, “Why, you’ve got a tail!And so has the elephant, and so has the whale!And, look! There’s a crocodile! He’s got a tail!“You’ve all got tails like me!”
Words in this poem
- shopman n.
- A shopkeeper; a retailer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In the Fashion is in the public domain. This text is taken from When We Were Very Young, Project Gutenberg ebook #70271; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: A. A. Milne, In the Fashion, in When We Were Very Young (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70271, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-when-we-were-very-young/in-the-fashion.html, id L27214.
Form and metre
In the Fashion is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AAAB tailA · whaleA · quailA · meB
- 2 ---B one · one · one · seeB
- 3 AAAB tailA · whaleA · tailA · meB
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A lion has a tail and a very fine tail, | 11 | ·/·····/˘·· |
| And so has an elephant, and so has a whale, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And so has a crocodile, and so has a quail— | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| They’ve all got tails but me. | 6 | ······ |
| If I had sixpence I would buy one; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| I’d say to the shopman, “Let me try one”; | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| I’d say to the elephant, “This is my one.” | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| They’d all come round to see. | 6 | ······ |
| Then I’d say to the lion, “Why, you’ve got a tail! | 11 | ·····/····· |
| And so has the elephant, and so has the whale! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And, look! There’s a crocodile! He’s got a tail! | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| “You’ve all got tails like me!” | 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.