The Cobbler Turned Doctor
A bankrupt Cobbler, poor and lean,(No bungler e'er was half so mean)Went to a foreign place, and thereBegan his med'cines to prepare:But one of more especial noteHe call'd his sovereign antidote;And by his technical bombastContrived to raise a name at last.It happen'd that the king was sick,Who, willing to detect the trick,Call'd for some water in an ewer,Poison in which he feign'd to pourThe antidote was likewise mix'd;He then upon th' empiric fix'dTo take the medicated cup,And, for a premium, drink it upThe quack, through dread of death, confess'dThat he was of no skill possess'd;But all this great and glorious jobWas made of nonsense and the mob.Then did the king his peers convoke,And thus unto th' assembly spoke:"My lords and gentlemen, I rateYour folly as inordinate,Who trust your heads into his hand,Where no one had his heels japann'd."--This story their attention cravesWhose weakness is the prey of knaves.
Words in this poem
- bungler n.
- A clumsy, awkward workman; one who bungles.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- ewer n.
- A kind of widemouthed pitcher or jug; esp., one used to hold water for the toilet. [OF. ewer, euwier, prop. a water carrier, F. évier a washing place, sink, aiguière ewer, L. aquarius, adj., water carrying, n., a water carrier, fr. aqua water; ]
- empiric n.
- One who follows an empirical method; one who relies upon practical experience. [L. empiricus an empiric, Gr. fare: cf. F. empirique. See In, and Fare.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- convoke v. t.
- To call together; to summon to meet; to assemble by summons. [L. convocare: cf. F. convoquer. See Convocate.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Cobbler Turned Doctor 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 Cobbler Turned Doctor, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-cobbler-turned-doctor.html, id L21247.
Form and metre
The Cobbler Turned Doctor is 28 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABBCCDDEE--FFGGHHIIJJKK--LL leanA · meanA · thereB · prepareB · noteC · antidoteC · bombastD · lastD · sickE · trickE · ewer · pour · mix'dF · fix'dF · cupG · upG · confess'dH · possess'dH · jobI · mobI · convokeJ · spokeJ · rateK · inordinateK · hand · japann'd · cravesL · knavesL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A bankrupt Cobbler, poor and lean, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| (No bungler e'er was half so mean) | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Went to a foreign place, and there | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Began his med'cines to prepare: | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| But one of more especial note | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| He call'd his sovereign antidote; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And by his technical bombast | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Contrived to raise a name at last. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| It happen'd that the king was sick, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who, willing to detect the trick, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Call'd for some water in an ewer, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Poison in which he feign'd to pour | 8 | /˘······ |
| The antidote was likewise mix'd; | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| He then upon th' empiric fix'd | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| To take the medicated cup, | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| And, for a premium, drink it up | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The quack, through dread of death, confess'd | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That he was of no skill possess'd; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But all this great and glorious job | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Was made of nonsense and the mob. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then did the king his peers convoke, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And thus unto th' assembly spoke: | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| "My lords and gentlemen, I rate | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Your folly as inordinate, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Who trust your heads into his hand, | 8 | ········ |
| Where no one had his heels japann'd."-- | 8 | ········ |
| This story their attention craves | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whose weakness is the prey of knaves. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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