Chapter and verse quotation-citation correspondence site

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Thomas Gutheil seeks the full text of a poem with a final couplet that runs, as best he recollects: “His claims to be brutally frank were just endless, / Until, to be brutally frank, he was friendless.”

More queries from the archives:

“Life is all right but for a bad 15 minutes at the end” (perhaps from Edward Gibbon)

“Not at the table, Amanda” (c. 1920s)

“Beginning in October effectively again”

“Childhood is a lost, enchanted land, and we spend the rest of our lives trying to find it again.”

The words to “My Little Papaya Tree,” heard sung on the radio to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas”

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138 or via e-mail to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

You might also like

Open Book: A New Nuclear Age

Harvard historian Serhii Plokhy’s latest book looks at the rising danger of a new arms race.

Novelist Lev Grossman on Why Fantasy Isn’t About Escapism

The Magicians author discusses his influences, from Harvard to King Arthur to Tolkien.

For Campus Speech, Civility is a Cultural Practice

A former Harvard College dean reviews Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber’s book Terms of Respect.

Most popular

Why Men Are Falling Behind in Education, Employment, and Health

Can new approaches to education address a growing gender gap?

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

Why Taxi Drivers Don’t Die of Alzheimer’s

Explaining taxi and ambulance drivers’ protection against Alzheimer’s disease.

Explore More From Current Issue

A football player kicking a ball while another teammate holds it on the field.

A Near-Perfect Football Season Ends in Disappointment

A loss to Villanova derails Harvard in the playoffs. 

Man in a suit holding a pen, smiling, seated at a desk with a soft background.

A Congenial Voice in Japanese-American Relations

Takashi Komatsu spent his life building bridges. 

A silhouette of a person stands before glowing domes in a red, rocky landscape at sunset.

Getting to Mars (for Real)

Humans have been dreaming of living on the Red Planet for decades. Harvard researchers are on the case.