The Bashful Earthquake
& Other FABLESand VERSES bywith many picturesby the Author
New York: Published byCharles Scribner’s Sons inthe Autumn of MDCCCXCVIII
Copyright, 1898,
Crime, Wickedness, Villany, Vice,And Sin only misery bring;If you want to be Happy and Nice,Be good and all that sort of thing.
The Earthquake rumbledAnd mumbledAnd grumbled;And then he bumped,And everything tumbled--Bumpyty-thump!Thumpyty-bump!--Houses and palaces all in a lump!
“Oh, what a crash!Oh, what a smash!How could I ever be so rash?”The Earthquake cried.“What under the sunHave I gone and done?I never before was so mortified!”Then away he fled,And groaned as he sped:“This comes of not looking before I tread.”
Out of the city along the roadHe staggered, as under a heavy load,Growing more weary with every league,Till almost ready to faint with fatigue.He came at last to a country laneBordering upon a field of grain;And just at the spot where he paused to rest,In a clump of wheat, hung a Dormouse nest.
The sun in the west was sinking red,And the Dormouse had just turned into bed,Dreaming as only a Dormouse can,When all of a sudden his nest beganTo quiver and shiver and tremble and shake.Something was wrong, and no mistake!
In a minute the Dormouse was wide awake,And, putting his head outside his nest,Cried: “WHO IS IT DARES DISTURB MY REST?”
His voice with rage was a husky squeak.The Earthquake by now had become so weakHe’d scarcely strength enough to speak.He even forgot the rules of grammar;All he could do was to feebly stammer:“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it’s me.Please don’t be angry. I’ll try to be--”
No one will know what he meant to say,For all at once he melted away.
The Dormouse, grumbling, went back to bed,“Oh, bother the Bats!” was all he said.
A scarecrow in a field of corn,A thing of tatters all forlorn,Once felt the influence of SpringAnd fell in love--a foolish thing,And most particularly soIn his case--for he loved a crow!
“Alack-a-day! it’s wrong, I know,It’s wrong for me to love a crow;An all-wise man created meTo scare the crows away,” cried he;“And though the music of her ‘Caw’Thrills through and through this heart of straw,
“My passion I must put awayAnd do my duty, come what may!Yet oh, the cruelty of fate!I fear she doth reciprocateMy love, for oft at dusk I hearHer in my cornfield hovering near.
“And once I dreamt--oh, vision blest!That she alighted on my breast.’T is very, very hard, I know,But all-wise man decreed it so.”He cried and flung his arm in air,The very picture of despair.
Poor Scarecrow, if he could but know!Even now his lady-love, the Crow,Sits in a branch, just out of sight,With her good husband, waiting night,To pluck from out his sleeping breastHis heart of straw to line her nest.
The politest musician that ever was seenWas Montague Meyerbeer Mendelssohn Green.So extremely polite he would take off his hatWhenever he happened to meet with a cat.
“It’s not that I’m partial to cats,” he’d explain;“Their music to me is unspeakable pain.There’s nothing that causes my flesh so to crawlAs when they perform a G-flat caterwaul.
Yet I cannot help feeling--in spite of their din--When I hear at a concert the first violinInterpret some exquisite thing of my own,If it were not for cat gut I’d never be known.
And so, when I bow as you see to a cat,It is n’t to her that I take off my hat;But to fugues and sonatas that possibly hideUncomposed in her--well--in her tuneful inside!”
Words in this poem 16
- smash v. t.
- To break in pieces by violence; to dash to pieces; to crush. [Cf. Sw. smisk a blow, stroke, smiska to strike, dial. Sw. smaske to kiss with a noise, and E. smack a loud kiss, a slap.]
- dormouse n.
- A small European rodent of the genus Myoxus, of several species. They live in trees and feed on nuts, acorns, etc.; -- so called because they are usually torpid in winter. [Perh. fr. F. dormir to sleep (Prov. E. dorm to doze) + E. mouse; or perh. changed fr. F. dormeuse, fem., a sleeper, though not found in the sense of a dormouse.]
- husky a.
- Abounding with husks; consisting of husks. [From Husk, n.]
- squeak v. i.
- To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak. [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqväka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- scarecrow n.
- Anything set up to frighten crows or other birds from cornfields; hence, anything terifying without danger.
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- alack interj.
- An exclamation expressive of sorrow. [Prob. from ah! lack! OE. lak loss, failure, misfortune. See Lack.]
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
- reciprocate v. i.
- To move forward and backward alternately; to recur in vicissitude; to act interchangeably; to alternate. [L. reciprocatus, p. p. of reciprocare. See Reciprocal.]
- cornfield n.
- A field where corn is or has been growing; -- in England, a field of wheat, rye, barley, or oats; in America, a field of Indian corn.
- polite a.
- Smooth; polished. [L. politus, p. p. of polire to polish: cf. F. poli. See Polish, v.]
- crawl v. i.
- To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and kness; to creep. [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]
- caterwaul v. i.
- To cry as cats in rutting time; to make a harsh, offensive noise. Coleridge. [Cat + waul, wawl, to cry as a cat.]
- tuneful a.
- Harmonious; melodious; musical; as, tuneful notes.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Bashful Earthquake 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, The Bashful Earthquake, in The Bashful Earthquake, and Other Fables and Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56765, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herford-bashful-earthquake/the-bashful-earthquake.html, id L22096.
Form and metre
The Bashful Earthquake is 104 lines in 21 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 79% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic 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.
- 4 ABAB viceA · bringB · niceA · thingB
- 5 AAA-ABBB rumbledA · mumbledA · grumbledA · bumped · tumbledA · thumpB · bumpB · lumpB
- 6 AAABCCBDDD crashA · smashA · rashA · criedB · sunC · doneC · mortifiedB · fledD · spedD · treadD
- 7 AABBCCDD roadA · loadA · leagueB · fatigueB · laneC · grainC · restD · nestD
- 8 AABBCC redA · bedA · canB · beganB · shakeC · mistakeC
- 9 -AA awake · nestA · restA
- 10 AAABBCC squeakA · weakA · speakA · grammarB · stammerB · meC · beC
- 11 AA sayA · awayA
- 12 AA bedA · saidA
- 13 AABBCC cornA · forlornA · springB · thingB · soC · crowC
- 14 AABBCC knowA · crowA · meB · heB · cawC · strawC
- 15 AABBCC awayA · mayA · fateB · reciprocateB · hearC · nearC
- 16 AABBCC blestA · breastA · knowB · soB · airC · despairC
- 17 AABBCC knowA · crowA · sightB · nightB · breastC · nestC
- 18 AABB seenA · greenA · hatB · catB
- 19 AABB explainA · painA · crawlB · caterwaulB
- 20 AABB dinA · violinA · ownB · knownB
- 21 AABB catA · hatA · hideB · insideB
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 iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| & Other FABLES | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| and VERSES by | 4 | ·/˘· |
| with many pictures | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| by the Author | 4 | ··/˘ |
| New York: Published by | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Charles Scribner’s Sons in | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| the Autumn of MDCCCXCVIII | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Copyright, 1898, | 3 | /˘· |
| Crime, Wickedness, Villany, Vice, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘˘· |
| And Sin only misery bring; | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| If you want to be Happy and Nice, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Be good and all that sort of thing. | 8 | ········ |
| The Earthquake rumbled | 5 | ·/·/˘ |
| And mumbled | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And grumbled; | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And then he bumped, | 4 | ···· |
| And everything tumbled-- | 7 | ·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Bumpyty-thump! | 4 | ···· |
| Thumpyty-bump!-- | 4 | ···· |
| Houses and palaces all in a lump! | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| “Oh, what a crash! | 4 | ···· |
| Oh, what a smash! | 4 | ···· |
| How could I ever be so rash?” | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The Earthquake cried. | 4 | ·/·· |
| “What under the sun | 5 | ····· |
| Have I gone and done? | 5 | ····· |
| I never before was so mortified!” | 9 | ·/····/˘· |
| Then away he fled, | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| And groaned as he sped: | 5 | ····· |
| “This comes of not looking before I tread.” | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Out of the city along the road | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| He staggered, as under a heavy load, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Growing more weary with every league, | 8 | /·/˘·/˘· |
| Till almost ready to faint with fatigue. | 10 | ·/·/˘···˘/ |
| He came at last to a country lane | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Bordering upon a field of grain; | 8 | /˘······ |
| And just at the spot where he paused to rest, | 10 | ·········· |
| In a clump of wheat, hung a Dormouse nest. | 10 | ·······/·· |
| The sun in the west was sinking red, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And the Dormouse had just turned into bed, | 10 | ··/······· |
| Dreaming as only a Dormouse can, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/·· |
| When all of a sudden his nest began | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| To quiver and shiver and tremble and shake. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Something was wrong, and no mistake! | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| In a minute the Dormouse was wide awake, | 11 | ··/˘·/···˘/ |
| And, putting his head outside his nest, | 9 | ·/˘··//·· |
| Cried: “WHO IS IT DARES DISTURB MY REST?” | 9 | ·····˘/·· |
| His voice with rage was a husky squeak. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The Earthquake by now had become so weak | 10 | ·/····˘/·· |
| He’d scarcely strength enough to speak. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| He even forgot the rules of grammar; | 9 | ·/˘/···/˘ |
| All he could do was to feebly stammer: | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it’s me. | 9 | ·/˘··˘/·· |
| Please don’t be angry. I’ll try to be--” | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| No one will know what he meant to say, | 9 | ········· |
| For all at once he melted away. | 9 | ·····/˘˘/ |
| The Dormouse, grumbling, went back to bed, | 9 | ·/·/˘···· |
| “Oh, bother the Bats!” was all he said. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| A scarecrow in a field of corn, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A thing of tatters all forlorn, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Once felt the influence of Spring | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| And fell in love--a foolish thing, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And most particularly so | 8 | ··˘/˘˘˘· |
| In his case--for he loved a crow! | 8 | ········ |
| “Alack-a-day! it’s wrong, I know, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| It’s wrong for me to love a crow; | 8 | ········ |
| An all-wise man created me | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| To scare the crows away,” cried he; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| “And though the music of her ‘Caw’ | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thrills through and through this heart of straw, | 8 | ········ |
| “My passion I must put away | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And do my duty, come what may! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet oh, the cruelty of fate! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| I fear she doth reciprocate | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| My love, for oft at dusk I hear | 8 | ········ |
| Her in my cornfield hovering near. | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| “And once I dreamt--oh, vision blest! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That she alighted on my breast. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| ’T is very, very hard, I know, | 9 | ··/˘/˘··· |
| But all-wise man decreed it so.” | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| He cried and flung his arm in air, | 8 | ········ |
| The very picture of despair. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Poor Scarecrow, if he could but know! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Even now his lady-love, the Crow, | 8 | /··/˘··· |
| Sits in a branch, just out of sight, | 8 | ········ |
| With her good husband, waiting night, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To pluck from out his sleeping breast | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His heart of straw to line her nest. | 8 | ········ |
| The politest musician that ever was seen | 11 | ·˘/˘˘/˘·/·· |
| Was Montague Meyerbeer Mendelssohn Green. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| So extremely polite he would take off his hat | 12 | ·˘/˘˘/······ |
| Whenever he happened to meet with a cat. | 11 | ˘/˘·/˘····· |
| “It’s not that I’m partial to cats,” he’d explain; | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| “Their music to me is unspeakable pain. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| There’s nothing that causes my flesh so to crawl | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| As when they perform a G-flat caterwaul. | 10 | ···˘/···/˘ |
| Yet I cannot help feeling--in spite of their din-- | 12 | ··˘/·/˘····· |
| When I hear at a concert the first violin | 11 | ·····˘/··˘/ |
| Interpret some exquisite thing of my own, | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘···· |
| If it were not for cat gut I’d never be known. | 11 | ········/·· |
| And so, when I bow as you see to a cat, | 11 | ··········· |
| It is n’t to her that I take off my hat; | 11 | ··········· |
| But to fugues and sonatas that possibly hide | 11 | ·····/˘·/˘· |
| Uncomposed in her--well--in her tuneful inside!” | 12 | ········/˘/· |
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