Puppy and I
I met a man as I went walking;We got talking,Man and I.“Where are you going to, Man?” I said(I said to the Man as he went by).“Down to the village, to get some bread.Will you come with me?” “No, not I.”
I met a Horse as I went walking;We got talking,Horse and I.“Where are you going to, Horse, to-day?”(I said to the Horse as he went by).“Down to the village to get some hay.Will you come with me?” “No, not I.”
I met a Woman as I went walking;We got talking,Woman and I.“Where are you going to, Woman, so early?”(I said to the Woman as she went by).“Down to the village to get some barley.Will you come with me?” “No, not I.”
I met some Rabbits as I went walking;We got talking,Rabbits and I.“Where are you going in your brown fur coats?”(I said to the Rabbits as they went by.“Down to the village to get some oats.Will you come with us?” “No, not I.”
I met a Puppy as I went walking;We got talking,Puppy and I.“Where are you going this nice fine day?”(I said to the Puppy as he went by).“Up in the hills to roll and play.”“I’ll come with you, Puppy,” said I.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- puppy n.
- The young of a canine animal, esp. of the common dog; a whelp. [F. poupée doll, puppet. See Puppet, and cf. Pup, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Puppy and I 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, Puppy and I, in When We Were Very Young (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70271, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-when-we-were-very-young/puppy-and-i.html, id L27179.
Form and metre
Puppy and I is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCBCB.
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 AABCBCB walkingA · talkingA · iB · saidC · byB · breadC · iB
- 2 AABCBCB walkingA · talkingA · iB · dayC · byB · hayC · iB
- 3 AABCBCB walkingA · talkingA · iB · earlyC · byB · barleyC · iB
- 4 AABCBCB walkingA · talkingA · iB · coatsC · byB · oatsC · iB
- 5 AABCBCB walkingA · talkingA · iB · dayC · byB · playC · iB
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I met a man as I went walking; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| We got talking, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Man and I. | 3 | ··· |
| “Where are you going to, Man?” I said | 8 | ···/···· |
| (I said to the Man as he went by). | 9 | ········· |
| “Down to the village, to get some bread. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Will you come with me?” “No, not I.” | 8 | ········ |
| I met a Horse as I went walking; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| We got talking, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Horse and I. | 3 | ··· |
| “Where are you going to, Horse, to-day?” | 8 | ···/···· |
| (I said to the Horse as he went by). | 9 | ········· |
| “Down to the village to get some hay. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Will you come with me?” “No, not I.” | 8 | ········ |
| I met a Woman as I went walking; | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| We got talking, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Woman and I. | 4 | /˘·· |
| “Where are you going to, Woman, so early?” | 10 | ···/·/˘·/˘ |
| (I said to the Woman as she went by). | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| “Down to the village to get some barley. | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Will you come with me?” “No, not I.” | 8 | ········ |
| I met some Rabbits as I went walking; | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| We got talking, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Rabbits and I. | 4 | /˘·· |
| “Where are you going in your brown fur coats?” | 9 | ···/····· |
| (I said to the Rabbits as they went by. | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| “Down to the village to get some oats. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Will you come with us?” “No, not I.” | 8 | ········ |
| I met a Puppy as I went walking; | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| We got talking, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Puppy and I. | 4 | /˘·· |
| “Where are you going this nice fine day?” | 8 | ···/···· |
| (I said to the Puppy as he went by). | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| “Up in the hills to roll and play.” | 8 | ········ |
| “I’ll come with you, Puppy,” said I. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
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