{"id":1013,"date":"2026-09-28T19:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T18:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/?p=1013"},"modified":"2026-11-08T18:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T18:36:37","slug":"fragment-of-a-soliloquy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/fragment-of-a-soliloquy\/","title":{"rendered":"Fragment of a Soliloquy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n
\n

Fragment of a Soliloquy1<\/a><\/sup><\/h1>\n

from an unwritten Tragedy in several Acts entitled<\/em><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n

\u201cOne Against Too Many\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

or<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAlone in the Jungle\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

by the author of the celebrated vocal refrain<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cNobody knows how I feel about you.\u201d2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

(Fabricius<\/em> loquitur3<\/a><\/sup>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

. . . Methought a voice fell sweetly on mine ear4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Whose honey\u2019d music, like to the silvern tongues<\/p>\n

Of far-off bells that sound yet make no sense,<\/p>\n

Wound through the mazy convolutions<\/p>\n

Towards the guarded citadel of the brain,<\/p>\n

Which having reached it still did speak no sense,<\/p>\n

But, like a most deceiving visitor,<\/p>\n

Gained treach\u2019rous entrance crying Hey<\/em> to the Ward<\/em>.5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Then what a horrid metamorphosis<\/p>\n

Befell, as when the distant station<\/p>\n

Fades out in crackling thunders and the rude<\/p>\n

Teuton announcer scarifies the air,<\/p>\n

And oil of olives turns to vitriol \u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[Geoffrey Faber]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nNotes<\/summary>\n
    \n
  1. 1.<\/a>\n

    A carbon copy, with the Eliot Estate, gives the title as \u2018Portion of a SOLILOQUY\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. 2.<\/a>\n

    Popular song: \u2018Nobody Knows the Trouble I\u2019ve Seen\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. 3.<\/a>\n

    \u2018Fabricius speaks.\u2019 Fabricius is a jocular alias for Faber. Ricks and McCue identify Fabricius as \u2018Roman consul and censor, admired for austerity, high principle and incorruptibility\u2019 (Poems<\/em> I, 1212). Another possible source for the name Fabricius was Dr Girolamo Fabrici d\u2019Acquapendente, also known as Hieronymus Fabricius (1533\u20131619), an esteemed medical researcher, Professor of Surgery and Anatomy at Padua.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. 4.<\/a>\n

    Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam<\/em> (c.<\/em> 1120), trans. Edward FitzGerald, fifth edn text (1889), II:<\/p>\n

    \u2018Methought a Voice within the Tavern cried\u2019<\/p><\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  5. 5.<\/a>\n

    JDH note: \u2018A punning reference to Mr. H.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/details>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Fragment of a Soliloquy1 from an unwritten Tragedy in several Acts entitled \u201cOne Against Too Many\u201d or \u201cAlone in the Jungle\u201d by the author of the celebrated vocal refrain \u201cNobody knows how I feel about you.\u201d2 (Fabricius loquitur3) . . . Methought a voice fell sweetly on mine ear4 Whose honey\u2019d music, like to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1013","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1013"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1107,"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1013\/revisions\/1107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tseliot.com\/noctes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}