The Epigrammatist
I know an entomologistWho thinks it not a sinTo catch a harmless butterfly,And stick it, with a pin,Upon a piece of paper white,And underneath the same,In letters large and plain, to writeThe creature’s Latin name.
I know another little manWho catches, now and then,A microscopic little thoughtAnd goads it, with a pen,To rhyme, until we wonder quiteHow it can keep so tame,And why he never fails to writeBeneath (in full) his name.
If you should ask me to decideThe which of them I’d rateThe greater torment of the twoI should not hesitate.It’s wicked with a pin to boreA butterfly--but then,I loathe the other fellow more,Who bores me with his pen.
Words in this poem
- entomologist n.
- One versed in entomology. [Cf. F. entomologiste.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Epigrammatist 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 Epigrammatist, 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-epigrammatist.html, id L22102.
Form and metre
The Epigrammatist is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See 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.
- 1 -A-ABCBC entomologist · sinA · butterfly · pinA · whiteB · sameC · writeB · nameC
- 2 -A-ABCBC man · thenA · thought · penA · quiteB · tameC · writeB · nameC
- 3 -A-ABCBC decide · rateA · two · hesitateA · boreB · thenC · moreB · penC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I know an entomologist | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Who thinks it not a sin | 6 | ······ |
| To catch a harmless butterfly, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And stick it, with a pin, | 6 | ······ |
| Upon a piece of paper white, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And underneath the same, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| In letters large and plain, to write | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The creature’s Latin name. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| I know another little man | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Who catches, now and then, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A microscopic little thought | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And goads it, with a pen, | 6 | ······ |
| To rhyme, until we wonder quite | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| How it can keep so tame, | 6 | ······ |
| And why he never fails to write | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beneath (in full) his name. | 6 | ······ |
| If you should ask me to decide | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The which of them I’d rate | 6 | ······ |
| The greater torment of the two | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| I should not hesitate. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| It’s wicked with a pin to bore | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A butterfly--but then, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I loathe the other fellow more, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Who bores me with his pen. | 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.