A Bubble
Mrs. Mehitable Marcia MooreWas a dame of superior mind,With a gown which, modestly fitting before,Was greatly puffed up behind.
The bustle she wore was ingeniously plannedWith an inspiration bright:It magnified seven diameters andWas remarkably nice and light.
It was made of rubber and edged with laceAnd riveted all with brass,And the whole immense interior spaceInflated with hydrogen gas.
The ladies all said when she hove in viewLike the round and rising moon:"She's a stuck up thing!" which was partly true,And men called her the Captive Balloon.
To Manhattan Beach for a bath one dayShe went and she said: "O dear!If I leave off this what will people say?I shall look so uncommonly queer!"
So a costume she had accordingly madeTo take it all nicely in,And when she appeared in that suit arrayed,She was greeted with many a grin.
Proudly and happily looking around,She waded out into the wet,But the water was very, very profound,And her feet and her forehead met!
As her bubble drifted away from the shore,On the glassy billows borne,All cried: "Why, where is Mehitable Moore?I saw her go in, I'll be sworn!"
Then the bulb it swelled as the sun grew hot,Till it burst with a sullen roar,And the sea like oil closed over the spot--Farewell, O Mehitable Moore!
Words in this poem
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- modestly adv.
- In a modest manner.
- ingeniously adv.
- In an ingenious manner; with ingenuity; skillfully; wittily; cleverly.
- hove v. i.
- To rise; to swell; to heave; to cause to swell.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- accordingly adv.
- Agreeably; correspondingly; suitably; in a manner conformable.
- grin n.
- A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
- happily adv.
- By chance; peradventure; haply. Piers Plowman. [From Happy.]
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Bubble is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, A Bubble, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/a-bubble.html, id L28146.
Form and metre
A Bubble is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is anapaestic common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in anapaestic common measure.
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 ABAB mooreA · mindB · beforeA · behindB
- 2 ABAB plannedA · brightB · andA · lightB
- 3 ABAB laceA · brassB · spaceA · gasB
- 4 ABAB viewA · moonB · trueA · balloonB
- 5 ABAB dayA · dearB · sayA · queerB
- 6 ABAB madeA · inB · arrayedA · grinB
- 7 ABAB aroundA · wetB · profoundA · metB
- 8 ABAB shoreA · borneB · mooreA · swornB
- 9 ABAB hotA · roarB · spotA · mooreB
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 anapaestic common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Mrs. Mehitable Marcia Moore | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| Was a dame of superior mind, | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| With a gown which, modestly fitting before, | 10 | ····/˘/˘·· |
| Was greatly puffed up behind. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The bustle she wore was ingeniously planned | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| With an inspiration bright: | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| It magnified seven diameters and | 10 | ·/˘·/˘/˘˘· |
| Was remarkably nice and light. | 8 | ·˘/˘˘··· |
| It was made of rubber and edged with lace | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| And riveted all with brass, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And the whole immense interior space | 10 | ···˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Inflated with hydrogen gas. | 8 | ˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| The ladies all said when she hove in view | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Like the round and rising moon: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "She's a stuck up thing!" which was partly true, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And men called her the Captive Balloon. | 10 | ···˘··/˘˘/ |
| To Manhattan Beach for a bath one day | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| She went and she said: "O dear! | 7 | ······· |
| If I leave off this what will people say? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I shall look so uncommonly queer!" | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| So a costume she had accordingly made | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| To take it all nicely in, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And when she appeared in that suit arrayed, | 10 | ···˘/···˘/ |
| She was greeted with many a grin. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Proudly and happily looking around, | 10 | /˘·/˘˘/˘·· |
| She waded out into the wet, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But the water was very, very profound, | 11 | ··/˘·/˘/˘˘/ |
| And her feet and her forehead met! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As her bubble drifted away from the shore, | 11 | ··/˘/˘˘/··· |
| On the glassy billows borne, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| All cried: "Why, where is Mehitable Moore? | 10 | ·········· |
| I saw her go in, I'll be sworn!" | 8 | ········ |
| Then the bulb it swelled as the sun grew hot, | 10 | ·········· |
| Till it burst with a sullen roar, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the sea like oil closed over the spot-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Farewell, O Mehitable Moore! | 8 | ·/······ |
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