The Flower Circus
The flowers in the dellOnce gave a circus show;And as I know them well,They asked if I would goAs their especial guest.“Quite charmed!” said I, and soPut on my very bestFrock-coat and shiny hat,
And my embroidered vestAnd wonderful cravat;In fact, no end of style,For it is, as you know,But once in a great whileThe flowers give a show.
They gave me a front seat,The very nicest there--A bank of violets sweetAnd moss and maidenhair.’T was going to be a treat--I felt it in the air.
As martial music crashedFrom a trained trumpet-vine,Into the ring there dashedA beauteous columbine!With airy grace she strodeHer wild horse-chestnut steed.
I held my breath, she rodeWith such terrific speed.They brought a cobweb ring,And lightly she jumped through it.(A very dangerous thing;How did she learn to do it?)
I cried, “Brava! Encore!”Until she’d jumped through nine,Each higher than before.(I tell you, it was fine!)
Then Jack-in-pulpit--whoFrom out his lofty placeAnnounced what each would do--Cried, “Next there comes a race.”
Two Scarlet Runners flewThree times the ring around,And with a crown of dewThe winner’s head was crowned.
A booby race, for fun,Came next (the prize was cheaper).Trailing Arbutus wonOver Virginia Creeper.
Then came the world-famed six,The Johnny-jump-up Brothers,Who did amazing tricks,Each funnier than the others.
A Spider, in mid-air(Engaged at great expense),On tight-thread gossamerDanced with a skill immense!
A dashing young Green BladeWho quickly followed suit,An exhibition madeOf how young blades can shoot.
There were Harebell ringers, too,Who played delightful tunes,And trained Dog-violets, whoDid antics, like buffoons.All these and more were there--Too many for narration;But nothing could compareWith the last “Great Sensation.”
I never shall forget,Though I should live an age,The sight of MignonetteWithin the Lion’s cage.Sweet smiling Mignonette!Not one bit scared--for why onEarth should she fear her pet,Her dear, tame Dandelion?
Words in this poem 16
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- shiny a.
- Bright; luminous; clear; unclouded.
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- cravat n.
- A neckcloth; a piece of silk, fine muslin, or other cloth, worn by men about the neck. [F. cravate, fr. Cravate a Croat, an inhabitant of Croatia, one of a body of Austrian troops, from whom, in 1636, this article of dress was adopted in France.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- columbine a.
- Of or pertaining to a dove; dovelike; dove-colored. [L. columbinus, fr. columba dove.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- cobweb n.
- The network spread by a spider to catch its prey. [Cob a spider + web.]
- encore adv.
- Once more; again; -- used by the auditors and spectators of plays, concerts, and other entertainments, to call for a repetition of a particular part. [F. The last part of the word is fr. L. hora hour. See Hour.]
- booby n.
- A dunce; a stupid fellow. [Sp. bobe dunce, idiot; cf. L. balbus stammering, E. barbarous.]
- amazing a.
- Causing amazement; very wonderful; as, amazing grace.
- gossamer n.
- A fine, filmy substance, like cobwebs, floating in the air, in calm, clear weather, especially in autumn. It is seen in stubble fields and on furze or low bushes, and is formed by small spiders. [OE. gossomer, gossummer, gosesomer, perh. for goose summer, from its downy appearance, or perh. for God's summer, cf. G. mariengarr gossamer, properly Mary's ya]
- harebell n.
- A small, slender, branching plant (Campanula rotundifolia), having blue bell-shaped flowers; also, Scilla nutans, which has similar flowers; -- called also bluebell.
- 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,]
- mignonette n.
- A plant (Reseda odorata) having greenish flowers with orange- colored stamens, and exhaling a delicious fragrance. In Africa it is a low shrub, but further north it is usually an annual herb. [F. mignonnette, dim. of mignon darling. See 2d Minion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Flower Circus 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 Flower Circus, 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-flower-circus.html, id L22117.
Form and metre
The Flower Circus is 76 lines in 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCBC- dellA · showB · wellA · goB · guestC · soB · bestC · hat
- 2 C-DBDB vestC · cravat · styleD · knowB · whileD · showB
- 3 EFEFEF seatE · thereF · sweetE · maidenhairF · treatE · airF
- 4 GHGHIJ crashedG · vineH · dashedG · columbineH · strodeI · steedJ
- 5 IJK-K- rodeI · speedJ · ringK · it · thingK · it
- 6 LMLM encoreL · nineM · beforeL · fineM
- 7 NONO whoN · placeO · doN · raceO
- 8 NPNP flewN · aroundP · dewN · crownedP
- 9 QRQR funQ · cheaperR · wonQ · creeperR
- 10 STST sixS · brothersT · tricksS · othersT
- 11 -U-U air · expenseU · gossamer · immenseU
- 12 VWVW bladeV · suitW · madeV · shootW
- 13 XYXYZaZa tooX · tunesY · whoX · buffoonsY · thereZ · narrationa · compareZ · sensationa
- 14 bcbcb-b- forgetb · agec · mignonetteb · cagec · mignonetteb · on · petb · dandelion
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The flowers in the dell | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Once gave a circus show; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And as I know them well, | 6 | ······ |
| They asked if I would go | 6 | ······ |
| As their especial guest. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| “Quite charmed!” said I, and so | 6 | ······ |
| Put on my very best | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Frock-coat and shiny hat, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And my embroidered vest | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| And wonderful cravat; | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| In fact, no end of style, | 6 | ······ |
| For it is, as you know, | 6 | ······ |
| But once in a great while | 6 | ······ |
| The flowers give a show. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They gave me a front seat, | 6 | ······ |
| The very nicest there-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| A bank of violets sweet | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And moss and maidenhair. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| ’T was going to be a treat-- | 7 | ··/···· |
| I felt it in the air. | 6 | ······ |
| As martial music crashed | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| From a trained trumpet-vine, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Into the ring there dashed | 6 | ······ |
| A beauteous columbine! | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| With airy grace she strode | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Her wild horse-chestnut steed. | 6 | ···/·· |
| I held my breath, she rode | 6 | ······ |
| With such terrific speed. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| They brought a cobweb ring, | 6 | ···/·· |
| And lightly she jumped through it. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| (A very dangerous thing; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| How did she learn to do it?) | 7 | ······· |
| I cried, “Brava! Encore!” | 6 | ····/· |
| Until she’d jumped through nine, | 6 | ······ |
| Each higher than before. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (I tell you, it was fine!) | 6 | ······ |
| Then Jack-in-pulpit--who | 6 | ···/˘· |
| From out his lofty place | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Announced what each would do-- | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Cried, “Next there comes a race.” | 6 | ······ |
| Two Scarlet Runners flew | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Three times the ring around, | 6 | ······ |
| And with a crown of dew | 6 | ······ |
| The winner’s head was crowned. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A booby race, for fun, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Came next (the prize was cheaper). | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Trailing Arbutus won | 6 | /˘···· |
| Over Virginia Creeper. | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Then came the world-famed six, | 6 | ······ |
| The Johnny-jump-up Brothers, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Who did amazing tricks, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Each funnier than the others. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| A Spider, in mid-air | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (Engaged at great expense), | 6 | ˘/··˘/ |
| On tight-thread gossamer | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Danced with a skill immense! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A dashing young Green Blade | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who quickly followed suit, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| An exhibition made | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Of how young blades can shoot. | 6 | ······ |
| There were Harebell ringers, too, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Who played delightful tunes, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| And trained Dog-violets, who | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Did antics, like buffoons. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| All these and more were there-- | 6 | ······ |
| Too many for narration; | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| But nothing could compare | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| With the last “Great Sensation.” | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| I never shall forget, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Though I should live an age, | 6 | ······ |
| The sight of Mignonette | 6 | ······ |
| Within the Lion’s cage. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sweet smiling Mignonette! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Not one bit scared--for why on | 7 | ······· |
| Earth should she fear her pet, | 6 | ······ |
| Her dear, tame Dandelion? | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
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.