Francine
Did I believe the angels soon would callYou, my beloved, to the other shore,And I should never see you any more,I love you so I know that I should fallInto dejection utterly, and allLove's pretty pageantry, wherein we boreTwin banners bravely in the tumult's fore,Would seem as shadows idling on a wall.So daintily I love you that my loveEndures no rumor of the winter's breath,And only blossoms for it thinks the skyForever gracious, and the stars aboveForever friendly. Even the fear of deathWere frost wherein its roses all would die.
Words in this poem
- dejection n.
- A casting down; depression. Hallywell. [L. dejectio a casting down: cf. F. déjection.]
- pageantry n.
- Scenic shows or spectacles, taken collectivelly; spectacular guality; splendor.
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- daintily adv.
- In a dainty manner; nicely; scrupulously; fastidiously; deliciously; prettily.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Francine is in the public domain. This text is taken from Shapes of Clay (1903), Project Gutenberg ebook #12658; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ambrose Bierce, Francine, in Shapes of Clay (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12658, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bierce-shapes-of-clay/francine.html, id L28148.
Form and metre
Francine is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDECDE, the pattern of the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See other Italian sonnets, 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 ABBAABBACDECDE callA · shoreB · moreB · fallA · allA · boreB · foreB · wallA · loveC · breathD · skyE · aboveC · deathD · dieE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Did I believe the angels soon would call | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| You, my beloved, to the other shore, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And I should never see you any more, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I love you so I know that I should fall | 10 | ·········· |
| Into dejection utterly, and all | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘·· |
| Love's pretty pageantry, wherein we bore | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| Twin banners bravely in the tumult's fore, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Would seem as shadows idling on a wall. | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| So daintily I love you that my love | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Endures no rumor of the winter's breath, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| And only blossoms for it thinks the sky | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Forever gracious, and the stars above | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Forever friendly. Even the fear of death | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/···· |
| Were frost wherein its roses all would die. | 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.