La Chevelure
O fleece, that foams down unto the shoulders bare!O curls, O scents which lovely languidness exhale!Delight! to fill this alcove's sombre atmosphereWith memories, sleeping deep within this tress of hair,I'll wave it in the evening breezes like a veil!
The shores of Africa, and Asia's burning skies,A world forgotten, distant, nearly dead and spent,Within thy depths, O aromatic forest! lies.And like to spirits floating unto melodies,Mine own, Belovèd! glides within thy sacred scent.
There I will hasten, where the trees and humankindWith languor lull beside the hot and silent sea;Strong tresses bear me, be to me the waves and wind!Within thy fragrance lies a dazzling dream confinedOf sails and masts and flames--O lake of ebony!
A loudly echoing harbour, where my soul may holdTo quaff, the silver cup of colours, scents and sounds,Wherein the vessels glide upon a sea of gold,And stretch their mighty arms, the glory to enfoldOf virgin skies, where never-ending heat abounds.
I'll plunge my brow, enamoured with voluptuousnessWithin this darkling ocean of infinitude,Until my subtle spirit, which thy waves caress,Shall find you once again, O fertile weariness;Unending lullabye of perfumed lassitude!
Ye tresses blue--recess of strange and sombre shades,Ye make the azure of the starry Realm immense;Upon the downy beeches, by your curls' cascades,Among your mingling fragrances, my spirit wadesTo cull the musk and cocoa-nut and lotus scents.
Long--foraye--my hand, within thy heavy mane,Shall scatter rubies, pearls, sapphires eternally,And thus my soul's desire for thee shall never wane;For art not thou the oasis where I dream and drainWith draughts profound, the golden wine of memory?
Words in this poem 15
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- tress n.
- A braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet. [OE. tresse, OF. trece, F. tresse, LL. tricia, fr. Gr. tri`cha threefold, because a tress is usually formed by interlacing three pieces; akin to trei^s three. Se]
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
- harbour n.
- A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
- enfold v. t.
- To infold. See Infold.
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- infinitude n.
- The quality or state of being infinite, or without limits; infiniteness.
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- 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,]
- lassitude n.
- A condition of the body, or mind, when its voluntary functions are performed with difficulty, and only by a strong exertion of the will; languor; debility; weariness. [L. lassitudo, fr. lassus faint, weary; akin to E. late: cf. F. lassitude. See Late.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- cull v. t.
- To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cuil flowers. [OE., OF. cuillir, coillir, F.cueillir, to gather, pluck, pick, fr. L. colligere. See Coil, v. t., and cf. Collect.]
- eternally adv.
- In an eternal manner.
- oasis n.
- A fertile or green spot in a waste or desert, esp. in a sandy desert.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
La Chevelure is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Flowers of Evil, Project Gutenberg ebook #36098; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charles Baudelaire, La Chevelure, in The Flowers of Evil (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36098, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/baudelaire-flowers-of-evil/la-chevelure.html, id L25408.
Form and metre
La Chevelure is 35 lines in 7 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABAAB bareA · exhaleB · atmosphereA · hairA · veilB
- 2 ABAAB skiesA · spentB · liesA · melodiesA · scentB
- 3 A-AA- humankindA · sea · windA · confinedA · ebony
- 4 ABAAB holdA · soundsB · goldA · enfoldA · aboundsB
- 5 ABAAB voluptuousnessA · infinitudeB · caressA · wearinessA · lassitudeB
- 6 A-AA- shadesA · immense · cascadesA · wadesA · scents
- 7 A-AA- maneA · eternally · waneA · drainA · memory
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O fleece, that foams down unto the shoulders bare! | 11 | ········/˘· |
| O curls, O scents which lovely languidness exhale! | 12 | ·····/˘···˘/ |
| Delight! to fill this alcove's sombre atmosphere | 12 | ˘/···/·/˘/˘· |
| With memories, sleeping deep within this tress of hair, | 12 | ·/˘/˘······· |
| I'll wave it in the evening breezes like a veil! | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| The shores of Africa, and Asia's burning skies, | 12 | ···/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| A world forgotten, distant, nearly dead and spent, | 12 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Within thy depths, O aromatic forest! lies. | 12 | ······˘/˘/˘· |
| And like to spirits floating unto melodies, | 12 | ···/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Mine own, Belovèd! glides within thy sacred scent. | 12 | ········/˘˘· |
| There I will hasten, where the trees and humankind | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| With languor lull beside the hot and silent sea; | 12 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘· |
| Strong tresses bear me, be to me the waves and wind! | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Within thy fragrance lies a dazzling dream confined | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Of sails and masts and flames--O lake of ebony! | 12 | ·········/˘˘ |
| A loudly echoing harbour, where my soul may hold | 12 | ·/˘/˘/˘····· |
| To quaff, the silver cup of colours, scents and sounds, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Wherein the vessels glide upon a sea of gold, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| And stretch their mighty arms, the glory to enfold | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Of virgin skies, where never-ending heat abounds. | 12 | ·/˘··/˘/˘·˘/ |
| I'll plunge my brow, enamoured with voluptuousness | 12 | ····˘/˘····· |
| Within this darkling ocean of infinitude, | 12 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Until my subtle spirit, which thy waves caress, | 12 | ···/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Shall find you once again, O fertile weariness; | 12 | ····˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| Unending lullabye of perfumed lassitude! | 12 | ˘/˘····˘//˘˘ |
| Ye tresses blue--recess of strange and sombre shades, | 12 | ·/˘·˘/···/˘· |
| Ye make the azure of the starry Realm immense; | 12 | ···/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Upon the downy beeches, by your curls' cascades, | 12 | ···/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Among your mingling fragrances, my spirit wades | 12 | ···/˘˘/˘˘·/· |
| To cull the musk and cocoa-nut and lotus scents. | 12 | ·····/˘··/˘· |
| Long--foraye--my hand, within thy heavy mane, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Shall scatter rubies, pearls, sapphires eternally, | 13 | ·/˘/˘·/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| And thus my soul's desire for thee shall never wane; | 12 | ····˘/···/˘· |
| For art not thou the oasis where I dream and drain | 13 | ·····˘/˘····· |
| With draughts profound, the golden wine of memory? | 12 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.