The Boastful Butterfly (From the Oriental.)
Upon the temple domeOf Solomon the wiseThere paused, returning home,A pair of butterflies.
He did the quite blasé(Did it rather badly),Wherefore--need I say?--She adored him madly.
Enthusiasm sheDid not attempt to curb:“Goodness gracious me!Is n’t this superb!”
He vouchsafed a smileTo indulge her whimsy,Surveyed the lofty pile,And drawled, “Not bad--but flimsy!
“Appearances, though fine,Lead to false deduction;This temple, I opine,Is shaky in construction.
“Think of it, my dear.All this glittering showWould crumble--disappear--Should I but stamp my toe!
“If I should stamp--like this--”His wife cried, “Heavens! don’t!”He answered, with a kiss,“Very well; I won’t.”
Now, every blessed wordSaid by these butterflies,It chanced, was overheardBy Solomon the wise.
He called in angry tone,And bade a Djinn to hieAnd summon to his throneThat boastful butterfly.
The butterfly flew downUpon reluctant wing.Cried Solomon, with a frown,“How dared you say this thing?
“How dared you, fly, inventSuch blasphemy as this is?”“Oh, king, I only meantTo terrify the missis.”
The insect was so scaredThe king could scarce restrainA smile. “Begone! you’re spared;But don’t do it again!”
So spake King Solomon.The butterflew away.His wife to meet him ran:“Oh, dear, what did he say?”
The butterfly had hereA chance to shine, and knew it.Said he: “The king, my dear,Implored me not to do it!”
Once to a man a goblin cameAnd said to him, “If you will nameThree wishes, whatsoe’er they be,They shall be granted instantly.Think of three things you deem the best,Express your wish--‘we do the rest.’”“O Goblin!” cried the man, “indeedYou’re just the kind of a friend I need.Hunger and Want I’ve known thus far,I fain would learn what Riches are.”“Then,” cried the Goblin, “learn it well,Riches are title deeds to Hell!Now wish again.”
“Alackaday!”Exclaimed the man. “I’ve thrown away,And all for naught, a chance immense;I only wish I had some sense!”The Goblin waved his hand--the DunceTo his surprise was wise for once.And being wise, he laughed, and said:“I am a fool--would I were dead!”
“Granted!” the Goblin yell’d “it’s plainYou’ll never be so wise again.”
Words in this poem 16
- solomon n.
- One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- superb a.
- Grand; magnificent; august; stately; as, a superb edifice; a superb colonnade. [F. superbe, L. superbus, fr. super over. See Super-.]
- whimsy n.
- A whim; a freak; a capricious notion, a fanciful or odd conceit. [See Whim.]
- opine v. t.
- To have an opinion; to judge; to think; to suppose. South. [L. opinari, p.p. opinatus; akin to opinus (in comp.) thinking, and perh. to E. apt: cf. F. opiner.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- invent v. t.
- To come or light upon; to meet; to find. [L. inventus, p. p. of invenire to come upon, to find, invent; pref. in- in + venire to come, akin to E. come: cf. F. inventer. See Come.]
- terrify v. t.
- To make terrible. [L. terrere to frighten + -fy: cf. F. terrifier, L. terrificare. See Terrific, and -fy.]
- missis n.
- A mistress; a wife; -- so used by the illiterate. G. Eliot.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- 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,]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- alackaday interj.
- An exclamation expressing sorrow. [For alack the day. Cf. Lackaday.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Boastful Butterfly (From the Oriental.) 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 Boastful Butterfly (From the Oriental.), 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-boastful-butterfly-from-the-oriental.html, id L22104.
Form and metre
The Boastful Butterfly (From the Oriental.) is 79 lines in 17 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 17 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 domeA · wiseB · homeA · butterfliesB
- 2 -A-A blasé · badlyA · say · madlyA
- 3 ABAB sheA · curbB · meA · superbB
- 4 A-A- smileA · whimsy · pileA · flimsy
- 5 ABAB fineA · deductionB · opineA · constructionB
- 6 ABAB dearA · showB · disappearA · toeB
- 7 ABAB thisA · don'tB · kissA · won'tB
- 8 ABAB wordA · butterfliesB · overheardA · wiseB
- 9 A-A- toneA · hie · throneA · butterfly
- 10 ABAB downA · wingB · frownA · thingB
- 11 A-A- inventA · is · meantA · missis
- 12 ABAB scaredA · restrainB · sparedA · againB
- 13 ABAB solomonA · awayB · ranA · sayB
- 14 ABAB hereA · itB · dearA · itB
- 15 AA--BBCCDDEE- cameA · nameA · be · instantly · bestB · restB · indeedC · needC · farD · areD · wellE · hellE · again
- 16 AABB--CC alackadayA · awayA · immenseB · senseB · dunce · once · saidC · deadC
- 17 AA plainA · againA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Upon the temple dome | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of Solomon the wise | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| There paused, returning home, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| A pair of butterflies. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He did the quite blasé | 5 | ····· |
| (Did it rather badly), | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Wherefore--need I say?-- | 5 | /˘··· |
| She adored him madly. | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| Enthusiasm she | 6 | ˘/˘·˘· |
| Did not attempt to curb: | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| “Goodness gracious me! | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Is n’t this superb!” | 5 | ···˘/ |
| He vouchsafed a smile | 6 | ···˘·· |
| To indulge her whimsy, | 6 | ·˘/·/˘ |
| Surveyed the lofty pile, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| And drawled, “Not bad--but flimsy! | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| “Appearances, though fine, | 6 | ˘/˘˘·· |
| Lead to false deduction; | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| This temple, I opine, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Is shaky in construction. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| “Think of it, my dear. | 5 | ····· |
| All this glittering show | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Would crumble--disappear-- | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Should I but stamp my toe! | 6 | ······ |
| “If I should stamp--like this--” | 6 | ······ |
| His wife cried, “Heavens! don’t!” | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He answered, with a kiss, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “Very well; I won’t.” | 5 | /˘··· |
| Now, every blessed word | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Said by these butterflies, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It chanced, was overheard | 6 | ···/˘/ |
| By Solomon the wise. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| He called in angry tone, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And bade a Djinn to hie | 6 | ······ |
| And summon to his throne | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That boastful butterfly. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The butterfly flew down | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Upon reluctant wing. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Cried Solomon, with a frown, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “How dared you say this thing? | 6 | ······ |
| “How dared you, fly, invent | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Such blasphemy as this is?” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| “Oh, king, I only meant | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To terrify the missis.” | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| The insect was so scared | 6 | ·/···· |
| The king could scarce restrain | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A smile. “Begone! you’re spared; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| But don’t do it again!” | 6 | ····˘/ |
| So spake King Solomon. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| The butterflew away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| His wife to meet him ran: | 6 | ······ |
| “Oh, dear, what did he say?” | 6 | ······ |
| The butterfly had here | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A chance to shine, and knew it. | 7 | ······· |
| Said he: “The king, my dear, | 6 | ······ |
| Implored me not to do it!” | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Once to a man a goblin came | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And said to him, “If you will name | 8 | ········ |
| Three wishes, whatsoe’er they be, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| They shall be granted instantly. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Think of three things you deem the best, | 8 | ········ |
| Express your wish--‘we do the rest.’” | 8 | ˘/······ |
| “O Goblin!” cried the man, “indeed | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| You’re just the kind of a friend I need. | 9 | ········· |
| Hunger and Want I’ve known thus far, | 8 | /˘······ |
| I fain would learn what Riches are.” | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| “Then,” cried the Goblin, “learn it well, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Riches are title deeds to Hell! | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Now wish again.” | 4 | ··˘/ |
| “Alackaday!” | 4 | ˘/˘˘ |
| Exclaimed the man. “I’ve thrown away, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| And all for naught, a chance immense; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I only wish I had some sense!” | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Goblin waved his hand--the Dunce | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To his surprise was wise for once. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And being wise, he laughed, and said: | 7 | ·/····· |
| “I am a fool--would I were dead!” | 8 | ········ |
| “Granted!” the Goblin yell’d “it’s plain | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| You’ll never be so wise again.” | 7 | ·/···˘/ |
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