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The Annotated Edition

FITTE THE SIXTH by Eugene Field

Summary, meaning, line-by-line analysis & FAQ.

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A muddy puppy from the Taylor family stirs up complete chaos one afternoon in Buena Park — ruining kids' clothes, piling up laundry, and making Mr.

Poet
Eugene Field
Themes
childhood, family, home
The PoemFull text

FITTE THE SIXTH

Eugene Field

That noon a dozen little dears Were spanked and put to bed With naught to stay their appetites But cheerless crusts of bread. That noon a dozen hired girls Washed out each gown and shirt Which that exuberant Taylor pup Had frescoed o'er with dirt. That whole day long the Aprile sun Smiled sweetly from above On clotheslines flaunting to the breeze The emblems mothers love. That whole day long the Taylor pup This way and that did hie Upon his mad, erratic course, Intent on getting dry. That night when Mr. Taylor came His vesper meal to eat, He uttered things my pious pen Would liefer not repeat. Yet still that noble Taylor pup Survives to romp and bark And stumble over folks and things In fair Buena Park. Good sooth, I wot he should be called Buena's favorite son Who's sired of such a noble sire And dammed by every one!

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A muddy puppy from the Taylor family stirs up complete chaos one afternoon in Buena Park — ruining kids' clothes, piling up laundry, and making Mr. Taylor curse at the dinner table. In spite of all the mayhem, the poem wraps up with a lighthearted pun that honors the dog as the neighborhood's favorite little troublemaker.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. That noon a dozen little dears / Were spanked and put to bed

    Editor's note

    We start right in the thick of things — the children have faced punishment and been sent to bed without a proper meal. The line "naught to stay their appetites / But cheerless crusts of bread" indicates that the punishment is quite severe, yet the playful tone suggests we shouldn't be too concerned. The dog's antics have already led to genuine consequences for the kids.

  2. That noon a dozen hired girls / Washed out each gown and shirt

    Editor's note

    The chaos spreads: now the household servants are left handling emergency laundry. Field uses the term "frescoed"—typically associated with grand Renaissance paintings—to describe mud smeared on clothes. This humorous clash between an elevated art term and a dirty dog is the poem's core joke in a nutshell.

  3. That whole day long the Aprile sun / Smiled sweetly from above

    Editor's note

    The scene transitions to a bright, almost idyllic view of laundry flapping on clotheslines. Field describes the hanging clothes as "the emblems mothers love," a sweet acknowledgment of domestic pride. The sun shines down cheerfully, indifferent to the chaos of human life below, making it all feel even more surreal.

  4. That whole day long the Taylor pup / This way and that did hie

    Editor's note

    While everyone else is dealing with chaos, the puppy is just running around, trying to dry off. The phrase "mad, erratic course" perfectly describes the carefree energy of a wet dog. The pup has no clue it has turned the whole house upside down — it’s simply being a dog, and that’s what makes it all worthwhile.

  5. That night when Mr. Taylor came / His vesper meal to eat

    Editor's note

    Mr. Taylor arrives home to a chaotic household and utters things that the narrator's "pious pen" won't record. This is a classic Victorian comic trick—suggesting profanity without actually writing it out. The term "vesper meal" (an evening meal) adds a mock-religious seriousness to the scene, making the implied swearing even funnier.

  6. Yet still that noble Taylor pup / Survives to romp and bark

    Editor's note

    Despite everything, the dog is doing well and still bringing cheerful chaos to Buena Park. Field's use of "noble" is ironic—this dog doesn’t fit the conventional idea of nobility—but the affection behind the word is real. The dog's survival and ongoing antics feel like a triumph.

  7. Good sooth, I wot he should be called / Buena's favorite son

    Editor's note

    The poem ends with its best joke. "Sired of such a noble sire / And dammed by every one" plays on two meanings of *dam*: the mother of an animal in breeding and the act of cursing someone. Everyone in the neighborhood has "damned" (cursed) the dog, while he has also been "dammed" by his lineage in the breeding sense. Field wisely saves this groan-worthy wordplay for the end, which is exactly where it belongs.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

Warm, playful, and intentionally goofy. Field writes like someone sharing a hilarious neighborhood tale at a dinner party—maintaining a serious demeanor while using quirky words ("frescoed," "vesper," "Good sooth, I wot") that elevate the ordinary to epic proportions. Beneath the humor lies genuine affection, both for the dog and the community it playfully disrupts.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

The Taylor pup
The dog is a source of pure, innocent chaos—it embodies how nature (and animals) function beyond human social structures, interrupting our carefully managed domestic lives without any intent or understanding.
The clotheslines
The laundry drying in the sun represents domestic order and the hard work of mothers. Field refers to these garments as "emblems mothers love," so when the dog threatens them with mud, it's like an attack on the entire household structure.
The pious pen
The narrator's choice not to record Mr. Taylor's words highlights Victorian propriety and the humorous disconnect between polite literary norms and the genuine frustration of everyday life.
Buena Park
The named neighborhood anchors the poem in a real, specific community. It turns the dog from just a nuisance into a local legend, infusing the poem with the essence of a tall tale or a beloved piece of local folklore.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Eugene Field was a Chicago newspaper columnist and poet, celebrated for his sentimental children's poetry, especially "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod." However, he also produced a significant amount of comic, satirical, and locally inspired work for his column in the Chicago Daily News. "Fitte the Sixth" — a title that mimics the old-fashioned chapter divisions found in medieval romances — is part of a series of humorous neighborhood poems Field created about real or slightly fictionalized residents of the Chicago area and their pets. Buena Park was a real neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. The poem dates back to the 1880s or early 1890s, during Field's peak popularity as a humorist. The intentionally archaic language ("Good sooth, I wot," "liefer") serves as a playful joke — Field is using Chaucer-like and medieval epic language to narrate a story about a muddy dog, which was a popular comedic technique of the time.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

A "fitte" (or "fit") is an old term for a section or canto of a lengthy poem, commonly found in medieval literature such as *Sir Gawain and the Green Knight*. Field plays with this term ironically—by referring to a short comic poem about a dog as "Fitte the Sixth," he gives it the grand air of an epic poem, which is the punchline. It suggests there were five earlier parts of just as absurd neighborhood antics.

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Themes in this poem

Poems about childhoodPoems about familyPoems about homePoems about nature