The Three Foxes
Once upon a time there were three little foxesWho didn’t wear stockings, and they didn’t wear sockses,But they all had handkerchiefs to blow their noses,And they kept their handkerchiefs in cardboard boxes.
They lived in the forest in three little houses,And they didn’t wear coats, and they didn’t wear trousies.They ran through the woods on their little bare tootsies,And they played “Touch last” with a family of mouses.
They didn’t go shopping in the High Street shopses,But caught what they wanted in the woods and copses.They all went fishing, and they caught three wormses,They went out hunting, and they caught three wopses.
They went to a Fair, and they all won prizes—Three plum-puddingses and three mince-pieses.They rode on elephants and swang on swingses,And hit three coco-nuts at coco-nut shieses.
That’s all that I know of the three little foxesWho kept their handkerchiefs in cardboard boxes.They lived in the forest in three little houses,But they didn’t wear coats and they didn’t wear trousies,And they didn’t wear stockings and they didn’t wear sockses.
Words in this poem
- cardboard n.
- A stiff compact pasteboard of various qualities, for making cards, etc., often having a polished surface.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Three Foxes 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, The Three Foxes, in When We Were Very Young (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #70271, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/milne-when-we-were-very-young/the-three-foxes.html, id L27192.
Form and metre
The Three Foxes is 21 lines in 5 stanzas.
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 A--A foxesA · sockses · noses · boxesA
- 2 A-AA housesA · trousies · tootsiesA · mousesA
- 3 AA-A shopsesA · copsesA · wormses · wopsesA
- 4 AA-A prizesA · piesesA · swingses · shiesesA
- 5 AA--- foxesA · boxesA · houses · trousies · sockses
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Once upon a time there were three little foxes | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Who didn’t wear stockings, and they didn’t wear sockses, | 13 | ·/˘·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| But they all had handkerchiefs to blow their noses, | 12 | ····/˘˘···/˘ |
| And they kept their handkerchiefs in cardboard boxes. | 12 | ····/˘˘·/·/˘ |
| They lived in the forest in three little houses, | 12 | ····/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And they didn’t wear coats, and they didn’t wear trousies. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| They ran through the woods on their little bare tootsies, | 12 | ·······/˘·// |
| And they played “Touch last” with a family of mouses. | 13 | ·······/˘˘·/˘ |
| They didn’t go shopping in the High Street shopses, | 12 | ·/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| But caught what they wanted in the woods and copses. | 12 | ····/˘····/˘ |
| They all went fishing, and they caught three wormses, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| They went out hunting, and they caught three wopses. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| They went to a Fair, and they all won prizes— | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Three plum-puddingses and three mince-pieses. | 10 | ··/˘˘···/˘ |
| They rode on elephants and swang on swingses, | 11 | ···/˘˘···/˘ |
| And hit three coco-nuts at coco-nut shieses. | 12 | ···/···/··/˘ |
| That’s all that I know of the three little foxes | 12 | ········/˘/˘ |
| Who kept their handkerchiefs in cardboard boxes. | 11 | ···/˘˘·/·/˘ |
| They lived in the forest in three little houses, | 12 | ····/˘··/˘/˘ |
| But they didn’t wear coats and they didn’t wear trousies, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| And they didn’t wear stockings and they didn’t wear sockses. | 14 | ··/˘·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
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.