Calais Sands
A thousand knights have reined their steedsTo watch this line of sand-hills run,Along the never-silent strait,To Calais glittering in the sun;
To look toward Ardres’ Golden FieldAcross this wide aërial plain,Which glows as if the Middle AgeWere gorgeous upon earth again.
Oh, that to share this famous scene,I saw, upon the open sand,Thy lovely presence at my side,--Thy shawl, thy look, thy smile, thy hand!
How exquisite thy voice would come,My darling, on this lonely air!How sweetly would the fresh sea-breezeShake loose some band of soft brown hair!
Yet now my glance but once hath rovedO’er Calais and its famous plain;To England’s cliffs my gaze is turned,O’er the blue strait mine eyes I strain.
Thou comest! Yes! the vessel’s cloudHangs dark upon the rolling sea.Oh that yon sea-bird’s wings were mine,To win one instant’s glimpse of thee!
I must not spring to grasp thy hand,To woo thy smile, to seek thine eye;But I may stand far off, and gaze,And watch thee pass unconscious by,--
And spell thy looks, and guess thy thoughts,Mixed with the idlers on the pier.Ah! might I always rest unseen,So I might have thee always near!
To-morrow hurry through the fieldsOf Flanders to the storied Rhine!To-night those soft-fringed eyes shall closeBeneath one roof, my queen! with mine.
Words in this poem
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- storied a.
- Told in a story. [From Story.]
- 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
Calais Sands is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54985; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matthew Arnold, Calais Sands, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/calais-sands.html, id L07012.
Form and metre
Calais Sands is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 22% 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.
- 1 -A-A steeds · runA · strait · sunA
- 2 -A-A field · plainA · age · againA
- 3 -A-A scene · sandA · side · handA
- 4 -A-A come · airA · breeze · hairA
- 5 -A-A roved · plainA · turned · strainA
- 6 -A-A cloud · seaA · mine · theeA
- 7 -A-A hand · eyeA · gaze · byA
- 8 -A-A thoughts · pierA · unseen · nearA
- 9 -A-A fields · rhineA · close · mineA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A thousand knights have reined their steeds | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To watch this line of sand-hills run, | 8 | ········ |
| Along the never-silent strait, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| To Calais glittering in the sun; | 8 | ·˘//˘··· |
| To look toward Ardres’ Golden Field | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Across this wide aërial plain, | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Which glows as if the Middle Age | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Were gorgeous upon earth again. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Oh, that to share this famous scene, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I saw, upon the open sand, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy lovely presence at my side,-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thy shawl, thy look, thy smile, thy hand! | 8 | ········ |
| How exquisite thy voice would come, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| My darling, on this lonely air! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| How sweetly would the fresh sea-breeze | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Shake loose some band of soft brown hair! | 8 | ········ |
| Yet now my glance but once hath roved | 8 | ········ |
| O’er Calais and its famous plain; | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| To England’s cliffs my gaze is turned, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O’er the blue strait mine eyes I strain. | 8 | ········ |
| Thou comest! Yes! the vessel’s cloud | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Hangs dark upon the rolling sea. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Oh that yon sea-bird’s wings were mine, | 8 | ········ |
| To win one instant’s glimpse of thee! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I must not spring to grasp thy hand, | 8 | ········ |
| To woo thy smile, to seek thine eye; | 8 | ········ |
| But I may stand far off, and gaze, | 8 | ········ |
| And watch thee pass unconscious by,-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And spell thy looks, and guess thy thoughts, | 8 | ········ |
| Mixed with the idlers on the pier. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ah! might I always rest unseen, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| So I might have thee always near! | 8 | ·····/·· |
| To-morrow hurry through the fields | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of Flanders to the storied Rhine! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To-night those soft-fringed eyes shall close | 8 | ········ |
| Beneath one roof, my queen! with mine. | 8 | ········ |
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