The Buffoon and Country-Fellow
In ev'ry age, in each profession,Men err the most by prepossession;But when the thing is clearly shown,Is fairly urged, and fully known,We soon applaud what we deride,And penitence succeeds to pride.A certain noble, on a day,Having a mind to show away,Invited by reward the mimesAnd play'rs and tumblers of the times,And built a large commodious stageFor the choice spirits of the age:But, above all, amongst the restThere came a genius who profess'dTo have a curious trick in storeThat never was perform'd before.Through all the town this soon got air,And the whole house was like a fair;But soon his entry as he made,Without a prompter or parade,'Twas all expectance and suspense,And silence gagg'd the audience.He, stooping down and looking big,So wondrous well took off a pig,All swore 'twas serious, and no joke,For that, or underneath his cloakHe had concealed some grunting elf,Or was a real hog himself.A search was made--no pig was found--With thund'ring claps the seats resound,And pit, and box, and gall'ries roarWith-- "O rare! bravo!" and "encore."Old Roger Grouse, a country clown,Who yet knew something of the town,Beheld the mimic of his whim,And on the morrow challenged himDeclaring to each beau and belleThat he this grunter would excel.The morrow came--the crowd was greater--But prejudice and rank ill-natureUsurp'd the minds of men and wenches,Who came to hiss and break the benches.The mimic took his usual station,And squeak'd with general approbation;Again "Encore! encore!" they cry--"'Tis quite the thing, 'tis very high."Old Grouse conceal'd, amidst this racket,A real pig beneath his jacket--Then forth he came, and with his nailHe pinch'd the urchin by the tail.The tortured pig, from out his throat,Produced the genuine nat'ral note.All bellow'd out 'twas very sad!Sure never stuff was half so bad."That like a pig!" each cried in scoff;"Pshaw! nonsense! blockhead! off! off! off!"The mimic was extoll'd, and GrouseWas hiss'd, and catcall'd from the house."Soft ye, a word before I go,"Quoth honest Hodge; and stooping low,Produced the pig, and thus aloudBespoke the stupid partial crowd:"Behold, and learn from this poor cratur,How much you critics know of natur!"
Words in this poem 18
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- deride v. t.
- To laugh at with contempt; to laugh to scorn; to turn to ridicule or make sport of; to mock; to scoff at. [L. deridere, derisum; de- + rid to laugh. See Ridicule.]
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- prompter n.
- One who, or that which, prompts; one who admonishes or incites to action.
- expectance n.
- The act of expecting ; expectation.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- claps v. t.
- Variant of Clasp
- bravo n.
- A daring villain; a bandit; one who sets law at defiance; a professional assassin or murderer. [I. See Brave, a.]
- encore adv.
- Once more; again; -- used by the auditors and spectators of plays, concerts, and other entertainments, to call for a repetition of a particular part. [F. The last part of the word is fr. L. hora hour. See Hour.]
- roger n.
- A black flag with white skull and crossbones, formerly used by pirates; -- called also Jolly Roger.
- belle n.
- A young lady of superior beauty and attractions; a handsome lady, or one who attracts notice in society; a fair lady. [F. belle, fem. of bel, beau, beautiful, fine. See Beau.]
- grunter n.
- One who, or that which, grunts; specifically, a hog.
- approbation n.
- Proof; attestation. [L. approbatio: cf. F. approbation. See Approve to prove.]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- pshaw interj.
- Pish! pooch! -- an exclamation used as an expression of contempt, disdain, dislike, etc. [Of imitative origin.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Buffoon and Country-Fellow 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 Buffoon and Country-Fellow, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-buffoon-and-country-fellow.html, id L21319.
Form and metre
The Buffoon and Country-Fellow is 64 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 97% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AAAABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRR--SSTTUUVVWWVVXXYYZZaabbcc professionA · prepossessionA · shownA · knownA · derideB · prideB · dayC · awayC · mimesD · timesD · stageE · ageE · restF · profess'dF · storeG · beforeG · airH · fairH · madeI · paradeI · suspenseJ · audienceJ · bigK · pigK · jokeL · cloakL · elfM · himselfM · foundN · resoundN · roarO · encoreO · clownP · townP · whimQ · himQ · belleR · excelR · greater · nature · wenchesS · benchesS · stationT · approbationT · cryU · highU · racketV · jacketV · nailW · tailW · throatV · noteV · sadX · badX · scoffY · offY · grouseZ · houseZ · goa · lowa · aloudb · crowdb · craturc · naturc
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In ev'ry age, in each profession, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Men err the most by prepossession; | 9 | ········· |
| But when the thing is clearly shown, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is fairly urged, and fully known, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We soon applaud what we deride, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| And penitence succeeds to pride. | 8 | ·/˘˘˘/·· |
| A certain noble, on a day, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Having a mind to show away, | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Invited by reward the mimes | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/·· |
| And play'rs and tumblers of the times, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And built a large commodious stage | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| For the choice spirits of the age: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But, above all, amongst the rest | 8 | ········ |
| There came a genius who profess'd | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To have a curious trick in store | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That never was perform'd before. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Through all the town this soon got air, | 8 | ········ |
| And the whole house was like a fair; | 8 | ········ |
| But soon his entry as he made, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Without a prompter or parade, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| 'Twas all expectance and suspense, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And silence gagg'd the audience. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| He, stooping down and looking big, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So wondrous well took off a pig, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All swore 'twas serious, and no joke, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For that, or underneath his cloak | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| He had concealed some grunting elf, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Or was a real hog himself. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| A search was made--no pig was found-- | 8 | ········ |
| With thund'ring claps the seats resound, | 8 | ·······/ |
| And pit, and box, and gall'ries roar | 7 | ······· |
| With-- "O rare! bravo!" and "encore." | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| Old Roger Grouse, a country clown, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who yet knew something of the town, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beheld the mimic of his whim, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| And on the morrow challenged him | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Declaring to each beau and belle | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| That he this grunter would excel. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The morrow came--the crowd was greater-- | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| But prejudice and rank ill-nature | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| Usurp'd the minds of men and wenches, | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| Who came to hiss and break the benches. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The mimic took his usual station, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And squeak'd with general approbation; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Again "Encore! encore!" they cry-- | 8 | ˘//·/··· |
| "'Tis quite the thing, 'tis very high." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Old Grouse conceal'd, amidst this racket, | 9 | ··˘/˘/·/˘ |
| A real pig beneath his jacket-- | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Then forth he came, and with his nail | 8 | ········ |
| He pinch'd the urchin by the tail. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The tortured pig, from out his throat, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Produced the genuine nat'ral note. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| All bellow'd out 'twas very sad! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sure never stuff was half so bad. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "That like a pig!" each cried in scoff; | 8 | ········ |
| "Pshaw! nonsense! blockhead! off! off! off!" | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| The mimic was extoll'd, and Grouse | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Was hiss'd, and catcall'd from the house. | 8 | ········ |
| "Soft ye, a word before I go," | 8 | ········ |
| Quoth honest Hodge; and stooping low, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Produced the pig, and thus aloud | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Bespoke the stupid partial crowd: | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| "Behold, and learn from this poor cratur, | 9 | ˘/······· |
| How much you critics know of natur!" | 9 | ···/˘···· |
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