Rachel
In Paris all looked hot and like to fade;Sere, in the garden of the Tuileries,Sere with September, drooped the chestnut-trees; was dawn,a brougham rolled through the streets, and made
Halt at the white and silent colonnadeOf the French Theatre. Worn with disease,Rachel, with eyes no gazing can appease,Sate in the brougham, and those blank walls surveyed.
She follows the gay world, whose swarms have fledTo Switzerland, to Baden, to the Rhine;Why stops she by this empty playhouse drear?
Ah! where the spirit its highest life hath led,All spots, matched with that spot, are less divine;And Rachel’s Switzerland, her Rhine, is here!
Unto a lonely villa, in a dellAbove the fragrant warm Provençal shore,The dying Rachel in a chair they boreUp the steep pine-plumed paths of the Estrelle,
And laid her in a stately room, where fellThe shadow of a marble Muse of yore,--The rose-crowned queen of legendary lore,Polymnia,--full on her death-bed. ’Twas well!
The fret and misery of our northern towns,In this her life’s last day, our poor, our pain,Our jangle of false wits, our climate’s frowns,
Do for this radiant Greek-souled artist cease:Sole object of her dying eyes remainThe beauty and the glorious art of Greece.
Sprung from the blood of Israel’s scattered race,At a mean inn in German Aarau born,To forms from antique Greece and Rome uptorn,Tricked out with a Parisian speech and face,
Imparting life renewed, old classic grace;Then soothing with thy Christian strain forlorn,A-Kempis! her departing soul outworn,While by her bedside Hebrew rites have place,--
Ah! not the radiant spirit of Greece aloneShe had--one power, which made her breast its home.In her, like us, there clashed, contending powers,
Germany, France, Christ, Moses, Athens, Rome.The strife, the mixture in her soul, are ours;Her genius and her glory are her own.
Words in this poem 16
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- theatre n.
- An edifice in which dramatic performances or spectacles are exhibited for the amusement of spectators; anciently uncovered, except the stage, but in modern times roofed. [F. thé\'83tre, L. theatrum, Gr. dhya to meditate, think. Cf. Theory.]
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- playhouse n.
- A building used for dramatic exhibitions; a theater. [AS. pleghus.]
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- villa n.
- A country seat; a country or suburban residence of some pretensions to elegance. Dryden. [L. villa, LL. also village, dim. of L. vicus a village: cf. It. & F. villa. See Vicinity, and cf. Vill, Village, Villain.]
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- jangle v. i.
- To sound harshly or discordantly, as bells out of tune. [OE. janglen to quarrel, OF. jangler to rail, quarrel; of Dutch or German origin; cf. D. jangelen, janken, to whimper, chide, brawl, quarrel.]
- artist n.
- One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- parisian n.
- A native or inhabitant of Paris, the capital of France. [Cf. F. parisen.]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
- bedside n.
- The side of a bed.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rachel 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, Rachel, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/rachel.html, id L06978.
Form and metre
Rachel is 42 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 fadeA · tuileries · dawn · madeA
- 2 ABBA colonnadeA · diseaseB · appeaseB · surveyedA
- 3 CDE fledC · rhineD · drearE
- 4 CDE ledC · divineD · hereE
- 5 FGGF dellF · shoreG · boreG · estrelleF
- 6 FGGF fellF · yoreG · loreG · wellF
- 7 HIH townsH · painI · frownsH
- 8 JIJ ceaseJ · remainI · greeceJ
- 9 KLLK raceK · bornL · uptornL · faceK
- 10 KLLK graceK · forlornL · outwornL · placeK
- 11 MNO aloneM · homeN · powersO
- 12 NOM romeN · oursO · ownM
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In Paris all looked hot and like to fade; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Sere, in the garden of the Tuileries, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Sere with September, drooped the chestnut-trees; was dawn, | 12 | ··˘/˘··/···· |
| a brougham rolled through the streets, and made | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Halt at the white and silent colonnade | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Of the French Theatre. Worn with disease, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Rachel, with eyes no gazing can appease, | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Sate in the brougham, and those blank walls surveyed. | 11 | ···/˘····/· |
| She follows the gay world, whose swarms have fled | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To Switzerland, to Baden, to the Rhine; | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| Why stops she by this empty playhouse drear? | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| Ah! where the spirit its highest life hath led, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| All spots, matched with that spot, are less divine; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And Rachel’s Switzerland, her Rhine, is here! | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Unto a lonely villa, in a dell | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Above the fragrant warm Provençal shore, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The dying Rachel in a chair they bore | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Up the steep pine-plumed paths of the Estrelle, | 11 | ··········· |
| And laid her in a stately room, where fell | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The shadow of a marble Muse of yore,-- | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| The rose-crowned queen of legendary lore, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| Polymnia,--full on her death-bed. ’Twas well! | 11 | ˘/˘˘······· |
| The fret and misery of our northern towns, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| In this her life’s last day, our poor, our pain, | 10 | ······/·/· |
| Our jangle of false wits, our climate’s frowns, | 10 | //˘···//˘· |
| Do for this radiant Greek-souled artist cease: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Sole object of her dying eyes remain | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| The beauty and the glorious art of Greece. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Sprung from the blood of Israel’s scattered race, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| At a mean inn in German Aarau born, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To forms from antique Greece and Rome uptorn, | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Tricked out with a Parisian speech and face, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Imparting life renewed, old classic grace; | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Then soothing with thy Christian strain forlorn, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| A-Kempis! her departing soul outworn, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| While by her bedside Hebrew rites have place,-- | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Ah! not the radiant spirit of Greece alone | 10 | ···/˘/··˘/ |
| She had--one power, which made her breast its home. | 10 | ···/······ |
| In her, like us, there clashed, contending powers, | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| Germany, France, Christ, Moses, Athens, Rome. | 9 | /˘··/˘/˘· |
| The strife, the mixture in her soul, are ours; | 10 | ···/˘····/ |
| Her genius and her glory are her own. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
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