The Brother and Sister
Warn'd by our council, oft beware,And look into yourself with care.There was a certain father hadA homely girl and comely lad.These being at their childish playWithin their mother's room one day,A looking-glass was in the chair,And they beheld their faces there.The boy grows prouder as he looks;The girl is in a rage, nor brooksHer boasting brother's jests and sneers,Affronted at each word she hears:Then to her father down she flies,And urges all she can deviseAgainst the boy, who could presumeTo meddle in a lady's room.At which, embracing each in turn,With most affectionate concern,"My dears," he says, "ye may not passA day without this useful glass;You, lest you spoil a pretty face,By doing things to your disgrace;You, by good conduct to correctYour form, and beautify defect."
Words in this poem
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
- presume v. t.
- To assume or take beforehand; esp., to do or undertake without leave or authority previously obtained. [F. présumer, L. praesumere, praesumptum; prae before + sumere to take. See Assume, Redeem.]
- meddle v. i.
- To mix; to mingle. [OE. medlen to mix, OF. medler, mesler, F. mêler, LL. misculare, a dim. fr. L. miscere to mix. Mix, and cf. Medley, Mellay.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Brother and Sister is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Fables of Phædrus Literally translated into English prose with notes, Project Gutenberg ebook #25512; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Phaedrus, The Brother and Sister, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-brother-and-sister.html, id L21280.
Form and metre
The Brother and Sister is 24 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic 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 AABBCCAADDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK bewareA · careA · hadB · ladB · playC · dayC · chairA · thereA · looksD · brooksD · sneersE · hearsE · fliesF · deviseF · presumeG · roomG · turnH · concernH · passI · glassI · faceJ · disgraceJ · correctK · defectK
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Warn'd by our council, oft beware, | 8 | ··//˘·˘/ |
| And look into yourself with care. | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| There was a certain father had | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| A homely girl and comely lad. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| These being at their childish play | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Within their mother's room one day, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A looking-glass was in the chair, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And they beheld their faces there. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The boy grows prouder as he looks; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The girl is in a rage, nor brooks | 8 | ········ |
| Her boasting brother's jests and sneers, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Affronted at each word she hears: | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Then to her father down she flies, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And urges all she can devise | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Against the boy, who could presume | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To meddle in a lady's room. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At which, embracing each in turn, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| With most affectionate concern, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘/ |
| "My dears," he says, "ye may not pass | 8 | ········ |
| A day without this useful glass; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You, lest you spoil a pretty face, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By doing things to your disgrace; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| You, by good conduct to correct | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Your form, and beautify defect." | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
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.