Alexander VI Dines with the Cardinal of Capua
Next, then, the peacock, giltWith all its feathers. Look, what gorgeous dyesFlow in the eyes!And how deep, lustrous greens are splashed and spiltAlong the back, that like a sea-wave's crestScatters soft beauty o'er th' emblazoned breast!
A strange fowl! But most fitFor feasts like this, whereby I honor onePure as the sun!Yet glowing with the fiery zeal of it!Some wine? Your goblet's empty? Let it foam!It is not often that you come to Rome!
You like the Venice glass?Rippled with lines that float like women's curls,Neck like a girl's,Fierce-glowing as a chalice in the Mass?You start -- 'twas artist then, not Pope who spoke!Ave Maria stella! -- ah, it broke!
'Tis said they break aloneWhen poison writhes within. A foolish tale!What, you look pale?Caraffa, fetch a silver cup!... You ownA Birth of Venus, now -- or so I've heard,Lovely as the breast-plumage of a bird.
Also a Dancing Faun,Hewn with the lithe grace of Praxiteles;Globed pearls to pleaseA sultan; golden veils that drop like lawn --How happy I could be with but a titheOf your possessions, fortunate one! Don't writhe
But take these cushions here!Now for the fruit! Great peaches, satin-skinned,Rough tamarind,Pomegranates red as lips -- oh they come dear!But men like you we feast at any price --A plum perhaps? They're looking rather nice!
I'll cut the thing in half.There's yours! Now, with a one-side-poisoned knifeOne might snuff lifeAnd leave one's friend with -- "fool" for epitaph!An old trick? Truth! But when one has the itchFor pretty things and isn't very rich....
There, eat it all or I'llBe angry! You feel giddy? Well, it's hot!This bergamotTake home and smell -- it purges blood of bile!And when you kiss Bianca's dimpled knee,Think of the poor Pope in his misery!
Now you may kiss my ring!Ho there, the Cardinal's litter! -- You must dineWhen the new wineIs in, again with me -- hear Bice sing,Even admire my frescoes -- though they're noughtBeside the calm Greek glories you have bought!
Godspeed, Sir Cardinal!And take a weak man's blessing! Help him thereTo the cool air!...Lucrezia here? You're ready for the ball?-- He'll die within ten hours, I suppose --MhM! Kiss your poor old father, little rose!
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.]
- chalice n.
- A cup or bowl; especially, the cup used in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. [OR. chalis, calice, OF. chalice, calice, F. calice, fr. L. calix, akin to Gr. helmet. Cf. Calice, Calyx.]
- 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.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- faun n.
- A god of fields and shipherds, diddering little from the satyr. [L. Faunus, fr. favere to be favorable. See Favor.]
- lithe v. i.
- To listen or listen to; to hearken to. P. Plowman. [Icel Listen.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- bergamot n.
- The essence or perfume made from the fruit.
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- godspeed n.
- Success; prosperous journeying; -- a contraction of the phrase,
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Alexander VI Dines with the Cardinal of Capua is in the public domain. This text is taken from Young Adventure: A Book of Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #312; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Stephen Vincent Benét, Alexander VI Dines with the Cardinal of Capua, in Young Adventure (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #312, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/benet-young-adventure/alexander-vi-dines-with-the-cardinal-of-capua.html, id L13385.
Form and metre
Alexander VI Dines with the Cardinal of Capua is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBACC, complete in 8 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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 ABBACC giltA · dyesB · eyesB · spiltA · crestC · breastC
- 2 ABBACC fitA · oneB · sunB · itA · foamC · romeC
- 3 ABBACC glassA · curlsB · girl'sB · massA · spokeC · brokeC
- 4 ABBACC aloneA · taleB · paleB · ownA · heardC · birdC
- 5 A--A-- faunA · praxiteles · please · lawnA · tithe · writhe
- 6 ABBACC hereA · skinnedB · tamarindB · dearA · priceC · niceC
- 7 ABBACC halfA · knifeB · lifeB · epitaphA · itchC · richC
- 8 A--A-- i'llA · hot · bergamot · bileA · knee · misery
- 9 ABBACC ringA · dineB · wineB · singA · noughtC · boughtC
- 10 ABBACC cardinalA · thereB · airB · ballA · supposeC · roseC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Next, then, the peacock, gilt | 6 | ···/·· |
| With all its feathers. Look, what gorgeous dyes | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Flow in the eyes! | 4 | ···· |
| And how deep, lustrous greens are splashed and spilt | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Along the back, that like a sea-wave's crest | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Scatters soft beauty o'er th' emblazoned breast! | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| A strange fowl! But most fit | 6 | ······ |
| For feasts like this, whereby I honor one | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Pure as the sun! | 4 | ···· |
| Yet glowing with the fiery zeal of it! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Some wine? Your goblet's empty? Let it foam! | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| It is not often that you come to Rome! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| You like the Venice glass? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Rippled with lines that float like women's curls, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Neck like a girl's, | 4 | ···· |
| Fierce-glowing as a chalice in the Mass? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| You start -- 'twas artist then, not Pope who spoke! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Ave Maria stella! -- ah, it broke! | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘··· |
| 'Tis said they break alone | 6 | ····˘/ |
| When poison writhes within. A foolish tale! | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| What, you look pale? | 4 | ···· |
| Caraffa, fetch a silver cup!... You own | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A Birth of Venus, now -- or so I've heard, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Lovely as the breast-plumage of a bird. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Also a Dancing Faun, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Hewn with the lithe grace of Praxiteles; | 9 | ········· |
| Globed pearls to please | 4 | ···· |
| A sultan; golden veils that drop like lawn -- | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| How happy I could be with but a tithe | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of your possessions, fortunate one! Don't writhe | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| But take these cushions here! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Now for the fruit! Great peaches, satin-skinned, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Rough tamarind, | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Pomegranates red as lips -- oh they come dear! | 11 | ··········· |
| But men like you we feast at any price -- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A plum perhaps? They're looking rather nice! | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| I'll cut the thing in half. | 6 | ······ |
| There's yours! Now, with a one-side-poisoned knife | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| One might snuff life | 4 | ···· |
| And leave one's friend with -- "fool" for epitaph! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| An old trick? Truth! But when one has the itch | 10 | ·········· |
| For pretty things and isn't very rich.... | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| There, eat it all or I'll | 6 | ······ |
| Be angry! You feel giddy? Well, it's hot! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| This bergamot | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Take home and smell -- it purges blood of bile! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And when you kiss Bianca's dimpled knee, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Think of the poor Pope in his misery! | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Now you may kiss my ring! | 6 | ······ |
| Ho there, the Cardinal's litter! -- You must dine | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| When the new wine | 4 | ···· |
| Is in, again with me -- hear Bice sing, | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| Even admire my frescoes -- though they're nought | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| Beside the calm Greek glories you have bought! | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Godspeed, Sir Cardinal! | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| And take a weak man's blessing! Help him there | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To the cool air!... | 4 | ···· |
| Lucrezia here? You're ready for the ball? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| -- He'll die within ten hours, I suppose -- | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| MhM! Kiss your poor old father, little rose! | 10 | ˘····/˘/˘· |
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.