The Two Bald Men
As on his way a Bald-pate went,He found a comb by accident;Another, with a head as bare,Pursued, and hollow'd for a share.The first produced the prize, and cried,"Good Providence was on our side;But by the strange caprice of Fate,We're to no purpose fortunate;And, as the proverb says, have foundA hobnail, for a hundred pound."They by this tale may be relievedWhose sanguine hopes have been deceived.
Words in this poem
- pate n.
- A pie. See Patty. [F. pâté.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- hobnail n.
- A short, sharp-pointed, large-headed nail, -- used in shoeing houses and for studding the soles of heavy shoes. [1st hob + nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Two Bald Men 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 Two Bald Men, in The Fables of Phaedrus (1765), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #25512, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/phaedrus-fables/the-two-bald-men.html, id L21321.
Form and metre
The Two Bald Men is 12 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 89%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFF wentA · accidentA · bareB · shareB · criedC · sideC · fateD · fortunateD · foundE · poundE · relievedF · deceivedF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As on his way a Bald-pate went, | 8 | ········ |
| He found a comb by accident; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Another, with a head as bare, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Pursued, and hollow'd for a share. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| The first produced the prize, and cried, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| "Good Providence was on our side; | 8 | ·/˘˘··/· |
| But by the strange caprice of Fate, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| We're to no purpose fortunate; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| And, as the proverb says, have found | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A hobnail, for a hundred pound." | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| They by this tale may be relieved | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Whose sanguine hopes have been deceived. | 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.