dom object constructor can't get working

dom object constructor can't get working

According to this page, I am able to create a dom object with jquery function thusly ('_' method prints to console):



  1.     var idea = $("<div>");
  2.     _("idea: " + idea.text());
  3.     _("idea: " + idea.html());

Yet the last two methods return blank strings.  What am I assuming wrong?