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by Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914?)

The Troutlet
Language: English 
As, pent in an aquarium, the troutlet
Swims round and round his tank to find an outlet,
Pressing his nose against the glass that holds him,
Nor ever sees the prison that enfolds him;
So the poor debtor, seeing naught around him,
Yet feels the narrow limits that impound him,
Grieves at his debt and studies to evade it,
And finds at last he might as well have paid it.

Note: followed by Barlow S. Vode in the dictionary entry

Text Authorship:

  • by Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914?), appears in The Devil's Dictionary, the entry on "debt", first published 1911 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Robert F. Baksa (b. 1938), "The Troutlet", from A Cynic's Cycle, no. 7. [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-05-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 70

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