The Tragic Mice
It was a tragic little mouseAll bent on suicideBecause another little mouseRefused to be his bride.
“Alas!” he squeaked, “I shall not wed!My heart and paw she spurns;I’ll hie me to the cat instead,From whence no mouse returns!”
The playful cat met him half way,Said she, “I feel for you,You’re dying for a mouse, you say,I’m dying for one, too!”
Now when Miss Mouse beheld his doom,Struck with remorse, she cried,“In death we’ll meet!--O cat! make roomFor one more mouse inside.”
The playful cat was charmed; said she,“I shall be, in a sense,Your pussy catafalque!” Ah me!It was her last offence!
Reader, take warning from this tale,And shun the punster’s trick:Those mice, for fear lest cats might fail,Had eaten arsenic!
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- pussy n.
- A pet name for a cat; also, an endearing name for a girl. [Dim. of puss.]
- catafalque n.
- A temporary structure sometimes used in the funeral solemnities of eminent persons, for the public exhibition of the remains, or their conveyance to the place of burial. [F., fr. It. catafalco, scaffold, funeral canopy; of uncertain origin; cf. Sp. catafalso, cadahalso, cadalso, Pr. casafalc, OF. chafaut. Cf. Scaffold.]
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tragic Mice 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 Tragic Mice, 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-tragic-mice.html, id L22106.
Form and metre
The Tragic Mice is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 mouseA · suicideB · mouseA · brideB
- 2 ABAB wedA · spurnsB · insteadA · returnsB
- 3 ABAB wayA · youB · sayA · tooB
- 4 ABAB doomA · criedB · roomA · insideB
- 5 ABAB sheA · senseB · meA · offenceB
- 6 ABAB taleA · trickB · failA · arsenicB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| It was a tragic little mouse | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| All bent on suicide | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Because another little mouse | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Refused to be his bride. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| “Alas!” he squeaked, “I shall not wed! | 8 | ˘/······ |
| My heart and paw she spurns; | 6 | ······ |
| I’ll hie me to the cat instead, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| From whence no mouse returns!” | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The playful cat met him half way, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Said she, “I feel for you, | 6 | ······ |
| You’re dying for a mouse, you say, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I’m dying for one, too!” | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Now when Miss Mouse beheld his doom, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Struck with remorse, she cried, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| “In death we’ll meet!--O cat! make room | 8 | ········ |
| For one more mouse inside.” | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The playful cat was charmed; said she, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| “I shall be, in a sense, | 6 | ······ |
| Your pussy catafalque!” Ah me! | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| It was her last offence! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Reader, take warning from this tale, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And shun the punster’s trick: | 6 | ······ |
| Those mice, for fear lest cats might fail, | 8 | ········ |
| Had eaten arsenic! | 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.