Market Square
I had a penny,A bright new penny,I took my pennyTo the market square.I wanted a rabbit,A little brown rabbit,And I looked for a rabbit’Most everywhere.
For I went to the stall where they sold sweet lavender(“Only a penny for a bunch of lavender!”).“Have you got a rabbit, ’cos I don’t want lavender?”But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there.
I had a penny,And I had another penny,I took my penniesTo the market square.I did want a rabbit,A little baby rabbit,And I looked for rabbits’Most everywhere.
And I went to the stall where they sold fresh mackerel(“Now then! Tuppence for a fresh-caught mackerel!”)“Have you got a rabbit, ’cos I don’t like mackerel?”But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there.
I found a sixpence,A little white sixpence.I took it in my handTo the market square.I was buying my rabbit(I do like rabbits),And I looked for my rabbit’Most everywhere.
So I went to the stall where they sold fine saucepans(“Walk up, walk up, sixpence for a saucepan!”).“Could I have a rabbit, ’cos we’ve got two saucepans?”But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there.
I had nuffin’,No, I hadn’t got nuffin’,So I didn’t go downTo the market square;But I walked on the common,The old-gold common . . .And I saw little rabbits’Most everywhere!
So I’m sorry for the people who sell fine saucepans,I’m sorry for the people who sell fresh mackerel,I’m sorry for the people who sell sweet lavender,’Cos they haven’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there!
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- saucepan n.
- A small pan with a handle, in which sauce is prepared over a fire; a stewpan.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Market Square 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, Market Square, in When We Were Very Young (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70271, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-when-we-were-very-young/market-square.html, id L27186.
Form and metre
Market Square is 48 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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 AAABCCCB pennyA · pennyA · pennyA · squareB · rabbitC · rabbitC · rabbitC · everywhereB
- 2 AAA- lavenderA · lavenderA · lavenderA · there
- 3 AA-BCC-B pennyA · pennyA · pennies · squareB · rabbitC · rabbitC · rabbits · everywhereB
- 4 AAA- mackerelA · mackerelA · mackerelA · there
- 5 AA-BC-CB sixpenceA · sixpenceA · hand · squareB · rabbitC · rabbits · rabbitC · everywhereB
- 6 A-A- saucepansA · saucepan · saucepansA · there
- 7 AABCBB-C nuffinA · nuffinA · downB · squareC · commonB · commonB · rabbits · everywhereC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I had a penny, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| A bright new penny, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| I took my penny | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To the market square. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I wanted a rabbit, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| A little brown rabbit, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| And I looked for a rabbit | 8 | ···˘··/˘ |
| ’Most everywhere. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| For I went to the stall where they sold sweet lavender | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| (“Only a penny for a bunch of lavender!”). | 11 | /˘·/˘····/˘ |
| “Have you got a rabbit, ’cos I don’t want lavender?” | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there. | 13 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘·· |
| I had a penny, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And I had another penny, | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| I took my pennies | 5 | ···/˘ |
| To the market square. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I did want a rabbit, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| A little baby rabbit, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| And I looked for rabbits | 7 | ···˘·/˘ |
| ’Most everywhere. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And I went to the stall where they sold fresh mackerel | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| (“Now then! Tuppence for a fresh-caught mackerel!”) | 10 | ········/˘ |
| “Have you got a rabbit, ’cos I don’t like mackerel?” | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there. | 13 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘·· |
| I found a sixpence, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| A little white sixpence. | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| I took it in my hand | 6 | ······ |
| To the market square. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I was buying my rabbit | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| (I do like rabbits), | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And I looked for my rabbit | 8 | ···˘··/˘ |
| ’Most everywhere. | 4 | ·/˘· |
| So I went to the stall where they sold fine saucepans | 12 | ··········/· |
| (“Walk up, walk up, sixpence for a saucepan!”). | 10 | ····/˘··/· |
| “Could I have a rabbit, ’cos we’ve got two saucepans?” | 12 | ····/˘····/· |
| But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there. | 13 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘·· |
| I had nuffin’, | 4 | ···· |
| No, I hadn’t got nuffin’, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| So I didn’t go down | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| To the market square; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| But I walked on the common, | 8 | ···˘··/˘ |
| The old-gold common . . . | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And I saw little rabbits | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| ’Most everywhere! | 4 | ·/˘· |
| So I’m sorry for the people who sell fine saucepans, | 13 | ··/˘··/˘···/· |
| I’m sorry for the people who sell fresh mackerel, | 12 | ·/˘··/˘···/˘ |
| I’m sorry for the people who sell sweet lavender, | 12 | ·/˘··/˘···/˘ |
| ’Cos they haven’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there! | 13 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘·· |
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