To Phœbus Apollo
The sovereign driverOf the ethereal chariotWhips the fiery wing-footed steeds—A Titan most beautiful.From the Thessalian valley,From the Ægean shores,The vision divine of the prophetsHellenic saw thee arise,
The youthful god most fair;Rising through the deserted skies,Thy feet had wings of fire,Thy chariot was a flame,
And around thee dancedIn the sphere sereneThe twenty-four virgins,In colours tawny and bright.
Didst thou not live? Did theMæonian verse never reach thee?And did Proclus in vain call theeThe Love of the universe?
The inexorable truthWith its cold shadow coveredThee, the phantom of ages past,Hellas' god and mine.
Now, where is the chariot and the golden,Radiant brow of youth?An unsightly mouldering heapGloomily flashing remains.
Alas, from the Ausonian landsAll the gods are flown!In a vast solitudeThou remainest, my Muse.
In vain, O Ionian virgin,Thy songs and thy calling on Homer;Truth, the sallow-faced, risesFrom her deserts and threatens.
Farewell, O Titan Apollo,Who governed the rolling year;Alone is left to lead meLove, the last delusion.
Let us go: in the acts and the smilesOf my Delia still do the GracesReveal themselves, as of oldCephisus beheld them.
Perish the sober ageThat quenches the life in me,That freezes in souls PhœbeanThe Hellenic song!
Words in this poem
- thessalian a.
- Of or pertaining to Thessaly in Greece. [Cf. L. Thessalius.]
- hellenic a.
- Of or pertaining to the Hellenes, or inhabitants of Greece; Greek; Grecian.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- ionian a.
- Of or pertaining to Ionia or the Ionians; Ionic. [L. Ionius. See Ionic.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Phœbus Apollo is in the public domain. This text is taken from By Frank Sewall (London: Osgood, McIlvaine & Co., 1893), Project Gutenberg ebook #56711, the Frank Sewall translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Giosuè Carducci, To Phœbus Apollo, in Poems of Giosuè Carducci (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56711, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carducci-poems/to-ph-bus-apollo.html, id L26515.
Form and metre
To Phœbus Apollo is 48 lines in 11 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
See other poems in common measure.
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.
- 4 AAA- theA · theeA · theeA · universe
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The sovereign driver | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| Of the ethereal chariot | 9 | ··˘/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Whips the fiery wing-footed steeds— | 9 | ··/˘˘·/˘· |
| A Titan most beautiful. | 7 | ·/˘·/˘˘ |
| From the Thessalian valley, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| From the Ægean shores, | 4 | ···· |
| The vision divine of the prophets | 9 | ·/˘˘/··/˘ |
| Hellenic saw thee arise, | 7 | ˘/˘··˘/ |
| The youthful god most fair; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Rising through the deserted skies, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| Thy feet had wings of fire, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Thy chariot was a flame, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And around thee danced | 5 | ····· |
| In the sphere serene | 5 | ···˘/ |
| The twenty-four virgins, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| In colours tawny and bright. | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Didst thou not live? Did the | 6 | ······ |
| Mæonian verse never reach thee? | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And did Proclus in vain call thee | 8 | ········ |
| The Love of the universe? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The inexorable truth | 7 | ··/˘˘˘· |
| With its cold shadow covered | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| Thee, the phantom of ages past, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Hellas' god and mine. | 5 | ····· |
| Now, where is the chariot and the golden, | 11 | ····/˘˘··/˘ |
| Radiant brow of youth? | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| An unsightly mouldering heap | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Gloomily flashing remains. | 7 | /˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Alas, from the Ausonian lands | 9 | ˘/··˘/˘˘· |
| All the gods are flown! | 5 | ····· |
| In a vast solitude | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Thou remainest, my Muse. | 6 | ·˘/˘·· |
| In vain, O Ionian virgin, | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Thy songs and thy calling on Homer; | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Truth, the sallow-faced, rises | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| From her deserts and threatens. | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| Farewell, O Titan Apollo, | 8 | ·/·/˘˘/˘ |
| Who governed the rolling year; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Alone is left to lead me | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Love, the last delusion. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Let us go: in the acts and the smiles | 9 | ········· |
| Of my Delia still do the Graces | 9 | ··/˘···/˘ |
| Reveal themselves, as of old | 7 | ˘/˘/··· |
| Cephisus beheld them. | 6 | ···˘/· |
| Perish the sober age | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| That quenches the life in me, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| That freezes in souls Phœbean | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| The Hellenic song! | 5 | ·˘/˘· |
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.