To an Insect
The Katydid is "a species of grasshopper found in the UnitedStates, so called from the sound which it makes."--Worcester.I used to hear this insect in Providence, Rhode Island, but Ido not remember hearing it in Cambridge, Massachusetts, whereI passed my boyhood. It is well known in other towns in theneighborhood of Boston.
I LOVE to hear thine earnest voice,Wherever thou art hid,Thou testy little dogmatist,Thou pretty KatydidThou mindest me of gentlefolks,--Old gentlefolks are they,--Thou say'st an undisputed thingIn such a solemn way.
Thou art a female, KatydidI know it by the trillThat quivers through thy piercing notes,So petulant and shrill;I think there is a knot of youBeneath the hollow tree,--A knot of spinster Katydids,---Do Katydids drink tea?
Oh tell me where did Katy live,And what did Katy do?And was she very fair and young,And yet so wicked, too?Did Katy love a naughty man,Or kiss more cheeks than one?I warrant Katy did no moreThan many a Kate has done.
Dear me! I'll tell you all aboutMy fuss with little Jane,And Ann, with whom I used to walkSo often down the lane,And all that tore their locks of black,Or wet their eyes of blue,--Pray tell me, sweetest Katydid,What did poor Katy do?
Ah no! the living oak shall crash,That stood for ages still,The rock shall rend its mossy baseAnd thunder down the hill,Before the little KatydidShall add one word, to tellThe mystic story of the maidWhose name she knows so well.
Peace to the ever-murmuring race!And when the latest oneShall fold in death her feeble wingsBeneath the autumn sun,Then shall she raise her fainting voice,And lift her drooping lid,And then the child of future yearsShall hear what Katy did.
Words in this poem
- katydid n.
- A large, green, arboreal, orthopterous insect (Cyrtophyllus concavus) of the family Locustidæ, common in the United States. The males have stridulating organs at the bases of the front wings.
- boyhood n.
- The state of being a boy; the time during which one is a boy. [Boy + -hood.]
- wherever adv.
- At or in whatever place; wheresoever.
- dogmatist n.
- One who dogmatizes; one who speaks dogmatically; a bold and arrogant advancer of principles.
- gentlefolks n.
- Persons of gentle or good family and breeding. Etym: [Generally in the United States in the plural form.]
- petulant a.
- Forward; pert; insolent; wanton. Burton. [L. petulans, -antis, prop., making slight attacks upon, from a lost dim. of petere to fall upon, to attack: cf. F. pétulant. See Petition.]
- spinster n.
- A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin. [Spin + -ster.]
- naughty a.
- Having little or nothing.
- kate n.
- The brambling finch.
- fuss n.
- A tumult; a bustle; unnecessary or annoying ado about trifles. [Cf. Fusome.]
- jane n.
- A coin of Genoa; any small coin. [LL. Janua Genoa; L. Genua, also OE. Jean.]
- 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.]
- 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
To an Insect is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes — Volume 01: Earlier Poems (1830-1836), Project Gutenberg ebook #7388; 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 Wendell Holmes, To an Insect, in Poetical Works, Volume I (1830–1848), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7388, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/holmes-poems/to-an-insect.html, id L00460.
Form and metre
To an Insect is 54 lines in 7 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 2 -A-A-B-B voice · hidA · dogmatist · katydidA · gentlefolks · theyB · thing · wayB
- 3 -A-A-B-B katydid · trillA · notes · shrillA · you · treeB · katydids · teaB
- 4 -A-A-B-B live · doA · young · tooA · man · oneB · more · doneB
- 5 -A-A-B-B about · janeA · walk · laneA · black · blueB · katydid · doB
- 6 -A-A-B-B crash · stillA · base · hillA · katydid · tellB · maid · wellB
- 7 -A-A-B-B race · oneA · wings · sunA · voice · lidB · years · didB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Katydid is "a species of grasshopper found in the United | 18 | ·/˘···/˘·/·˘···˘/˘ |
| States, so called from the sound which it makes."--Worcester. | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I used to hear this insect in Providence, Rhode Island, but I | 15 | ·····/··/˘·/˘·· |
| do not remember hearing it in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where | 16 | ··˘/˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘· |
| I passed my boyhood. It is well known in other towns in the | 15 | ···/······/˘··· |
| neighborhood of Boston. | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| I LOVE to hear thine earnest voice, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wherever thou art hid, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Thou testy little dogmatist, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Thou pretty Katydid | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Thou mindest me of gentlefolks,-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Old gentlefolks are they,-- | 6 | ······ |
| Thou say'st an undisputed thing | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In such a solemn way. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou art a female, Katydid | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| I know it by the trill | 6 | ······ |
| That quivers through thy piercing notes, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So petulant and shrill; | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| I think there is a knot of you | 8 | ········ |
| Beneath the hollow tree,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A knot of spinster Katydids,--- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Do Katydids drink tea? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Oh tell me where did Katy live, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And what did Katy do? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And was she very fair and young, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And yet so wicked, too? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Did Katy love a naughty man, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or kiss more cheeks than one? | 6 | ······ |
| I warrant Katy did no more | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Than many a Kate has done. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Dear me! I'll tell you all about | 8 | ········ |
| My fuss with little Jane, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And Ann, with whom I used to walk | 8 | ········ |
| So often down the lane, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And all that tore their locks of black, | 8 | ········ |
| Or wet their eyes of blue,-- | 6 | ······ |
| Pray tell me, sweetest Katydid, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| What did poor Katy do? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Ah no! the living oak shall crash, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That stood for ages still, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The rock shall rend its mossy base | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And thunder down the hill, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Before the little Katydid | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Shall add one word, to tell | 6 | ······ |
| The mystic story of the maid | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Whose name she knows so well. | 6 | ······ |
| Peace to the ever-murmuring race! | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| And when the latest one | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Shall fold in death her feeble wings | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath the autumn sun, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then shall she raise her fainting voice, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And lift her drooping lid, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And then the child of future years | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall hear what Katy did. | 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.