Two POTS well filled are signs of a feast

Meaning & Analysis

If two pots are well filled, it indicates that a feast or celebration is taking place—abundant provisions signal a special occasion.

Insights

Abundance as Celebration

Suggests that visible abundance or preparation—here, symbolized by full pots—signals an atmosphere of festivity, prosperity, or joyful gathering.

Material Signs of Joy

Indicates that tangible resources and preparations are outward markers of internal happiness, collective success, or communal well-being.

Historical Symbolism

In pre-modern households, pots full of food or drink were clear indicators of rare abundance. The proverb reflects a world where feasting was exceptional, and visible plenty was closely tied to celebration and social cohesion.

Cultural Resonance

The motif of 'full pots' as a sign of good fortune or festivity appears across many cultures, emphasizing the universal connection between hospitality, sharing, and communal celebration.

Psychological Dimensions

The proverb taps into a deep psychological association between material plenty and emotional or social well-being, reinforcing the importance of visible, shared abundance in human societies.

Rhetorical Devices

Metonymy

The 'pots' stand in for the food, drink, and preparations of a feast, allowing a simple domestic image to evoke the richness of communal celebration.

Synecdoche

A part (the filled pots) is used to represent the whole (the entire feast and festivities), intensifying the sense of expectation and excitement.

Parallelism

The balanced structure of 'two pots well filled' mirrors the harmony and abundance being celebrated, making the proverb pleasingly symmetrical and memorable.

abundancecelebrationfeasthospitalitycommunitysymbolism
Analyzed with gpt-4.1 on July 10, 2025

Transcription

Quotations

Two pots well fild are signes of a feast; two women ill-wild of a storme.

1611, COT., s.v. Femme
1659, N.R., p. 107

Original Scan

Two POTS well filled are signs of a feast - a scanned entry from Tilley's 1950 Dictionary of Proverbs.
Scan courtesy of HathiTrust Digital Library.
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.

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Last updated: January 27, 2026