A Gas-Log Reverie
As I sit, inanely staringIn the Gas-log’s lambent flame,Far away my fancy’s faringTo a land without a name,--To the country of Invention,Where I roam in ecstasy,Where all things are mere pretension,Nothing what it seems to be.
Folded in a calm serenic,On a jute-bank I recline,Where, mid moss of hue arsenic,Millinery flowers entwine.Cambric blooms--glass-dew beshowered,Gay with colors aniline,Ever eagerly devouredBy the mild, condensed milch kine.
Now the scene idyllic changesFrom the meadows aniline,And my faltering fancy rangesDown a dismal, deep decline,
Scene of some age past upheaval,Where no foot of man has fared,To a Gas-log grove primeval,Where I find me, mute, and scaredOf--I know not--Goblins, Banshees,And the ancient Gas-trees tossGnarled and flickering giant branches,Hoary with asbestos moss.
Now I come to where are wavingPainted palms, precisely planned,Rearing trunks of cocoa shaving,By electric zephyrs fanned,Soothing me with sound seraphicTill I sink into a swoon,Dreaming cineomatographicDreams beneath an arc-light moon.
Once Cupid, heWent on a spreeAnd made a peck of trouble,“Ah ha!” cried he,“Two hearts I see!”Alack, the rogue saw double.
There was but one;What has he done?How could he be so stupid?Into one heartTwo arrows dart--O Cupid, Cupid, Cupid!
In truth ’t is sweetWhen “two hearts beatAs one”--but what to doWhen in one heartTwo arrows smartAnd one heart beats as two?
Words in this poem
- lambent a.
- Playing on the surface; touching lightly; gliding over. [L. lambens, -enlis, p. pr. of lambere to lick; akin to lap. See Lap to drink by licking.]
- millinery n.
- The articles made or sold by milliners, as headdresses, hats or bonnets, laces, ribbons, and the like.
- entwine v. t.
- To twine, twist, or wreathe together or round. [Pref. en- + twine. Cf. Intwine.]
- milch a.
- Giving milk; -- now applied only to beasts. [OE. milche; akin to G. melk, Icel. milkr, mj, and to E. milk. See Milk.]
- idyllic a.
- Of or belonging to idyls.
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
- dismal a.
- Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
- upheaval n.
- The act of upheaving, or the state of being upheaved; esp., an elevation of a portion of the earth's crust. Lubbock.
- gnarled a.
- Knotty; full of knots or gnarls; twisted; crossgrained.
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- seraphic a.
- Of or pertaining to a seraph; becoming, or suitable to, a seraph; angelic; sublime; pure; refined. [Cf. F. séraphique.]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Gas-Log Reverie is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bashful Earthquake, & Other Fables and Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #56765; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Herford, A Gas-Log Reverie, in The Bashful Earthquake, and Other Fables and Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56765, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herford-bashful-earthquake/a-gas-log-reverie.html, id L22125.
Form and metre
A Gas-Log Reverie is 54 lines in 8 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 2 of the 8 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-AB-B- staring · flameA · faring · nameA · inventionB · ecstasy · pretensionB · be
- 2 -A-AB-BA serenic · reclineA · arsenic · entwineA · beshoweredB · aniline · devouredB · kineA
- 3 A-A- changesA · aniline · rangesA · decline
- 4 ABABCDCD upheavalA · faredB · primevalA · scaredB · bansheesC · tossD · branchesC · mossD
- 5 ABABCDCD wavingA · plannedB · shavingA · fannedB · seraphicC · swoonD · cineomatographicC · moonD
- 6 AABAAB heA · spreeA · troubleB · heA · seeA · doubleB
- 7 AABCCB oneA · doneA · stupidB · heartC · dartC · cupidB
- 8 AABCCB sweetA · beatA · doB · heartC · smartC · twoB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| As I sit, inanely staring | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| In the Gas-log’s lambent flame, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Far away my fancy’s faring | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| To a land without a name,-- | 7 | ······· |
| To the country of Invention, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Where I roam in ecstasy, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| Where all things are mere pretension, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Nothing what it seems to be. | 7 | /˘····· |
| Folded in a calm serenic, | 8 | /˘······ |
| On a jute-bank I recline, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Where, mid moss of hue arsenic, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Millinery flowers entwine. | 8 | /˘˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Cambric blooms--glass-dew beshowered, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Gay with colors aniline, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Ever eagerly devoured | 8 | /˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| By the mild, condensed milch kine. | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Now the scene idyllic changes | 8 | ···˘/˘/˘ |
| From the meadows aniline, | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| And my faltering fancy ranges | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Down a dismal, deep decline, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Scene of some age past upheaval, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Where no foot of man has fared, | 8 | ·······˘ |
| To a Gas-log grove primeval, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Where I find me, mute, and scared | 8 | ·······˘ |
| Of--I know not--Goblins, Banshees, | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| And the ancient Gas-trees toss | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Gnarled and flickering giant branches, | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Hoary with asbestos moss. | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Now I come to where are waving | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Painted palms, precisely planned, | 8 | /˘·˘/˘·˘ |
| Rearing trunks of cocoa shaving, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| By electric zephyrs fanned, | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘·˘ |
| Soothing me with sound seraphic | 8 | /˘······ |
| Till I sink into a swoon, | 7 | ······· |
| Dreaming cineomatographic | 8 | /˘······ |
| Dreams beneath an arc-light moon. | 7 | ······· |
| Once Cupid, he | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Went on a spree | 4 | ···· |
| And made a peck of trouble, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “Ah ha!” cried he, | 4 | ···· |
| “Two hearts I see!” | 4 | ···· |
| Alack, the rogue saw double. | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| There was but one; | 4 | ···· |
| What has he done? | 4 | ···· |
| How could he be so stupid? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Into one heart | 4 | ···· |
| Two arrows dart-- | 4 | ·/˘· |
| O Cupid, Cupid, Cupid! | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| In truth ’t is sweet | 5 | ····· |
| When “two hearts beat | 4 | ···· |
| As one”--but what to do | 6 | ······ |
| When in one heart | 4 | ···· |
| Two arrows smart | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And one heart beats as two? | 6 | ······ |
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.