The Fugitive Thought
When scribbling late one nightI happened to alightOn the happiest thought I’d thoughtFor many a year.I hailed it with delightBut ere I’d time to writeMy pencil had contrivedTo disappear.
Where could the thing have gone?I searched and searched uponThe table, and beneath itAnd behind it.I pushed my books about,Turned my pockets inside out,But the more I lookedThe more I could n’t find it!
Then I searched and searched againOn the table, but in vain,And I fussed and fumedAnd felt about the floor.And I rose up in my wroth,And I shook the tablecloth,And turned my pocketsInside out once more!
“This will not do,” I said,“I must not lose my head!”So I went and tore the cushionsFrom my chair,Shook all my rugs and mats,And shoes and coats and hats,And crawled beneath theSofa in despair!
Then I said, “I must keep cool!”So I took my two-foot ruleAnd I poked among theAshes in the grate.And I paced my room in rage,Like a wild beast in a cage,In a furious, frightful, frantic,Frenzied state!
At last, upon my soul,I lost my self-controlAnd indulged in languageQuite unfit to hear;Till out of breath--I gaspedAnd clutched my head--and graspedThat pencil calmly resting onMy ear!
Yes, I found that pencil stub!But my thought--Aye, there’s the rubIn vain I try to call itBack again.It has fled beyond recall,And what is worst of all’T will turn up in someOther fellow’s brain!
So I denounce forthwithAny future Jones or SmithWho thinks my thought--aPlagiarist of the worst.I shall know my thought againWhen I hear it, and it’s plainIt must be mine becauseI thought it first!
Words in this poem
- scribbling n.
- The act or process of carding coarsely. Scribbing machine, the machine used for the first carding of wool or other fiber; -- called also scribbler. [See 1st Scribble.]
- wroth a.
- Full of wrath; angry; incensed; much exasperated; wrathful. [OE. wroth, wrap, AS. wraedh wroth, crooked, bad; akin to wriedhan to writhe, and to OS. wreedhangry, D. wreed cruel, OHG. reid twisted, Icel. reiedhr angry, Dan]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- tablecloth n.
- A cloth for covering a table, especially one with which a table is covered before the dishes, etc., are set on for meals.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- frightful a.
- Full of fright; affrighted; frightened.
- stub n.
- The stump of a tree; that part of a tree or plant which remains fixed in the earth when the stem is cut down; -- applied especially to the stump of a small tree, or shrub.
- denounce v. t.
- To make known in a solemn or official manner; to declare; to proclaim (especially an evil). [F. dénoncer, OF. denoncier, fr. L. denuntiare, denunciare; de- + nunciare, nuntiare, to announce, report, nuntius a messenger, message. See Nuncio, and cf. Denu]
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
- plagiarist n.
- One who plagiarizes; or purloins the words, writings, or ideas of another, and passes them off as his own; a literary thief; a plagiary.
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Fugitive Thought 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 Fugitive Thought, 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-fugitive-thought.html, id L22123.
Form and metre
The Fugitive Thought is 64 lines in 8 stanzas of 8 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AA-BAA-B nightA · alightA · thought · yearB · delightA · writeA · contrived · disappearB
- 2 --AABB-A gone · upon · itA · itA · aboutB · outB · looked · itA
- 3 AA-BCC-B againA · vainA · fumed · floorB · wrothC · tableclothC · pockets · moreB
- 4 AA-BCC-B saidA · headA · cushions · chairB · matsC · hatsC · the · despairB
- 5 AA-BCC-B coolA · ruleA · the · grateB · rageC · cageC · frantic · stateB
- 6 AA-BCC-B soulA · controlA · language · hearB · gaspedC · graspedC · on · earB
- 7 AA-BCC-B stubA · rubA · it · againB · recallC · allC · some · brainB
- 8 AA-BCC-B forthwithA · smithA · a · worstB · againC · plainC · because · firstB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When scribbling late one night | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| I happened to alight | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| On the happiest thought I’d thought | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| For many a year. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I hailed it with delight | 7 | ··˘··˘/ |
| But ere I’d time to write | 6 | ······ |
| My pencil had contrived | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| To disappear. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Where could the thing have gone? | 6 | ······ |
| I searched and searched upon | 8 | ··˘··˘·· |
| The table, and beneath it | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| And behind it. | 4 | ···· |
| I pushed my books about, | 7 | ··˘···· |
| Turned my pockets inside out, | 8 | ·˘·/˘/·· |
| But the more I looked | 5 | ····· |
| The more I could n’t find it! | 7 | ······· |
| Then I searched and searched again | 8 | ···˘··˘/ |
| On the table, but in vain, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And I fussed and fumed | 5 | ····· |
| And felt about the floor. | 6 | ······ |
| And I rose up in my wroth, | 7 | ······· |
| And I shook the tablecloth, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And turned my pockets | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Inside out once more! | 5 | ˘/··· |
| “This will not do,” I said, | 6 | ······ |
| “I must not lose my head!” | 6 | ······ |
| So I went and tore the cushions | 8 | ······/˘ |
| From my chair, | 3 | ··· |
| Shook all my rugs and mats, | 6 | ······ |
| And shoes and coats and hats, | 6 | ······ |
| And crawled beneath the | 5 | ····· |
| Sofa in despair! | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Then I said, “I must keep cool!” | 7 | ······· |
| So I took my two-foot rule | 7 | ······· |
| And I poked among the | 7 | ···˘··· |
| Ashes in the grate. | 5 | /˘··· |
| And I paced my room in rage, | 8 | ···˘···· |
| Like a wild beast in a cage, | 7 | ······· |
| In a furious, frightful, frantic, | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Frenzied state! | 3 | /˘· |
| At last, upon my soul, | 6 | ······ |
| I lost my self-control | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And indulged in language | 7 | ·˘/˘·/˘ |
| Quite unfit to hear; | 5 | ·˘/·· |
| Till out of breath--I gasped | 7 | ······˘ |
| And clutched my head--and grasped | 8 | ··˘····˘ |
| That pencil calmly resting on | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| My ear! | 2 | ·· |
| Yes, I found that pencil stub! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| But my thought--Aye, there’s the rub | 7 | ······· |
| In vain I try to call it | 7 | ······· |
| Back again. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| It has fled beyond recall, | 7 | ·····/· |
| And what is worst of all | 6 | ······ |
| ’T will turn up in some | 6 | ······ |
| Other fellow’s brain! | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| So I denounce forthwith | 6 | ··˘/// |
| Any future Jones or Smith | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Who thinks my thought--a | 5 | ····· |
| Plagiarist of the worst. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| I shall know my thought again | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| When I hear it, and it’s plain | 7 | ······· |
| It must be mine because | 6 | ······ |
| I thought it first! | 4 | ···· |
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