Voice from the Banquet
Pour! and keep on pouring,The vintage which the ancient Rhine doth yield,Crowned with her hundred castles!Let it foam and bubbleForth to our sight, and then deep in the breastTell what rare treasure hath the sun maturedWithin the hills which well may England crave,And France, land of good wines and heroes brave!
Then let the maddening danceWhirl thee away! O what a waving seaOf tresses blond and dark all proudly blending!O the hot breath that minglesItself with thine! O roses quickly faded!O eyes that know to exchange the hasty flashThe while, of a thousand mingled notes the strainPours forth the sigh of pleasure acute to pain!
O sweet defloweringOf burning cheeks, and pressure of hand in hand,The hurried beating of the breast near breast,The cunning strategy,Now in the ear to lodge the precious secret,The little parleys carried on by smiles,The sweet imagining of joys that hide'Neath her shy glance one presses at his side.
See how from these our feastsThe common people get the benefit,And civil charity finds large increase!Thanks to the heavenly powerThat ill and good allots, a judgment sternHas easement in a graceful piety;And we the happy progeny of mirth,Shed like the sun a radiance o'er the earth!
Words in this poem
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- blending n.
- The act of mingling.
- easement n.
- That which gives ease, relief, or assistance; convenience; accommodation. [OF. aisement. See Ease, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Voice from the Banquet 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, Voice from the Banquet, in Poems of Giosuè Carducci (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56711, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carducci-poems/voice-from-the-banquet.html, id L26529.
Form and metre
Voice from the Banquet is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ------AA pouring · yield · castles · bubble · breast · matured · craveA · braveA
- 2 ------AA dance · sea · blending · mingles · faded · flash · strainA · painA
- 3 ------AA deflowering · hand · breast · strategy · secret · smiles · hideA · sideA
- 4 A-A---BB feastsA · benefit · increaseA · power · stern · piety · mirthB · earthB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pour! and keep on pouring, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The vintage which the ancient Rhine doth yield, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Crowned with her hundred castles! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Let it foam and bubble | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Forth to our sight, and then deep in the breast | 10 | ··/······· |
| Tell what rare treasure hath the sun matured | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Within the hills which well may England crave, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And France, land of good wines and heroes brave! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then let the maddening dance | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Whirl thee away! O what a waving sea | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Of tresses blond and dark all proudly blending! | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| O the hot breath that mingles | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Itself with thine! O roses quickly faded! | 11 | ˘/···/˘/˘/˘ |
| O eyes that know to exchange the hasty flash | 11 | ·····˘/·/˘· |
| The while, of a thousand mingled notes the strain | 11 | ····/˘/˘··· |
| Pours forth the sigh of pleasure acute to pain! | 11 | ·····/˘˘/·· |
| O sweet deflowering | 6 | ······ |
| Of burning cheeks, and pressure of hand in hand, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| The hurried beating of the breast near breast, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The cunning strategy, | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Now in the ear to lodge the precious secret, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| The little parleys carried on by smiles, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| The sweet imagining of joys that hide | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| 'Neath her shy glance one presses at his side. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| See how from these our feasts | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The common people get the benefit, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| And civil charity finds large increase! | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| Thanks to the heavenly power | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| That ill and good allots, a judgment stern | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Has easement in a graceful piety; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| And we the happy progeny of mirth, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Shed like the sun a radiance o'er the earth! | 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.