FITTE THE SECOND by Eugene Field: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
A husband and wife share a cheerful morning chat about which soap to use for their dog's bath.
The poem
Now once his master, lingering o'er His breakfast coffee-cup, Observed unto his doting spouse: "You ought to wash the pup!" "That shall I do this very day", His doting spouse replied; "You will not know the pretty thing When he is washed and dried. "But tell me, dear, before you go Unto your daily work, Shall I use Ivory soap on him, Or Colgate, Pears' or Kirk?" "Odzooks, it matters not a whit-- They all are good to use! Take Pearline, if it pleases you-- Sapolio, if you choose! "Take any soap, but take the pup And also water take, And mix the three discreetly up Till they a lather make. "Then mixing these constituent parts, Let Nature take her way," With which advice that sapient sir Had nothing more to say. Then fared he to his daily toil All in the Board of Trade, While Mistress Taylor for that bath Due preparation made.
A husband and wife share a cheerful morning chat about which soap to use for their dog's bath. The husband suggests it doesn't really matter — just choose one and move on. It's a lighthearted, humorous glimpse into everyday life, poking fun at how seriously people sometimes take trivial choices.
Line-by-line
Now once his master, lingering o'er / His breakfast coffee-cup,
"That shall I do this very day", / His doting spouse replied;
"But tell me, dear, before you go / Unto your daily work,
"Odzooks, it matters not a whit-- / They all are good to use!
"Take any soap, but take the pup / And also water take,
"Then mixing these constituent parts, / Let Nature take her way,"
Then fared he to his daily toil / All in the Board of Trade,
Tone & mood
Warm, playful, and subtly satirical. Field maintains a serious demeanor while using formal and even old-fashioned language to discuss something utterly trivial. The humor arises from the contrast between the grand style and the silly subject matter. There's no sharpness here — it's lighthearted comedy about everyday life, not a critique of it.
Symbols & metaphors
- The pup — The dog drives the humor throughout the poem—it's a source of real fondness that the couple handles with almost ridiculous seriousness. It symbolizes the little, cherished worries that make up everyday home life.
- The soap brands — Ivory, Colgate, Pears, Kirk, Pearline, Sapolio — listing these actual commercial products transforms the poem into a glimpse of consumer culture in the 1890s. The humor lies in the husband mentioning several brands while claiming that none of it is significant.
- The Board of Trade — The husband's workplace is a reflection of the serious, public realm of commerce and finance. Putting it right next to a chat about dog shampoo highlights how the significant and the mundane coexist in our daily lives.
Historical context
Eugene Field was a journalist and poet from Chicago who gained popularity in the 1880s and 1890s for his humorous and sentimental poetry, often featured in his newspaper column. "Fitte the Second" is part of a longer comic series about a dog named Wynken (or something similar), written in the mock-heroic style that Field enjoyed — taking the grand language of medieval romances and epic poetry and applying it to everyday suburban life. The term "Fitte" is an old-fashioned word for a section or canto of a long poem, indicating that Field is having fun with literary traditions. The soap brands mentioned in the poem — Ivory, Pears, Sapolio, Pearline — were all well-advertised household products in late 19th-century America, and their mention would have struck Field's original readers as humorously modern, creating a funny contrast with the poem's old-fashioned language.
FAQ
A "fitte" (or "fit") is an archaic term for a segment of a long poem or ballad, similar to a chapter. Field employs this term to give his humorous poem about bathing a dog an air of a grand medieval epic. The contrast between the lofty title and the trivial subject matter adds to the humor.
"Odzooks" is a playful old-fashioned exclamation — a toned-down oath from earlier English, much like "egads" or "zounds." Field uses it to portray the husband as dramatically flustered, as though the soap question is a scandal. This choice aligns with the poem's ongoing joke of employing grand, archaic language for entirely mundane situations.
Yes, all of them. Ivory (Procter & Gamble), Pears (a British brand that gained popularity in America), Colgate, Kirk's, Pearline, and Sapolio were all genuine and heavily marketed cleaning products in the 1890s. Mentioning these brands gives the poem a particular, relatable vibe that would have surely made Field's newspaper readers chuckle in recognition.
The Chicago Board of Trade has been a significant commodities exchange where traders buy and sell grain, livestock futures, and other goods. Field was a Chicago writer, and his readers would have been familiar with it. The poem's final comic twist comes from sending the husband to this important financial institution right after a discussion about dog soap.
It refers to the individual components — specifically, the dog, the water, and the soap. This phrase sounds overly formal and almost scientific for something as straightforward as bathing a puppy, which is precisely why Field chooses it. The exaggerated language used for such a simple task is at the heart of his humor throughout the poem.
Yes. The title "Fitte the Second" indicates that this is the second part of a longer comic series. Field created several of these mock-epic series in his newspaper columns, chronicling characters—often pets—on their domestic adventures using intentionally archaic and heroic language.
The humor arises from the contrast between the style and the subject matter. Field describes bathing a dog as if he were narrating a medieval epic, employing archaic language and formal phrasing, with a husband offering "sapient" advice. The more the poem treats its trivial subject with seriousness, the funnier it becomes.
Mistress Taylor is introduced as the wife, only mentioned by name in the final stanza. Throughout the poem, she's referred to as "his doting spouse," so the abrupt shift to her name at the end adds a sense of realism to the scene. It's as if Field is nudging us to remember that these characters are real (or at least relatable) individuals, not merely comedic stereotypes.