Voice from the Garret
The bread gave out, the workFell off on which did hang our life,And trembling sat before the fireless hearthMy mother, and watched me.Pale was the face and mute with some great fearThe while she watched: until, as if pursuedBy that mute stare, after the long, long dayI could endure no more, and stole away.
Down through the winter's mistPoured the high moon a livid radianceAbove the muddy alley, then disappearedBehind the clouds. So didThe light of youth but shine to disappearUpon the sorrow-mingled pathway of my life.A hand touched me. I felt a foul glance fallUpon me, and words that did my heart appal.
Appal! but more appallingThe hunger, O ye proud ones, that did drive me,And the old mother's mute and maddening stare!And so it came that I took bread to her!But all desire for me her fast had stilled.Hardly on me she raised her heavy eyes,While I on my poor mother's breast would claimA place where I might hide my face and shame.
Adieu, O tearful visionsOf a once holy love and you, the fondCompanions of a maiden most unhappy!For you may shine the whitenessOf that pure veil the mother, weeping, binds!For you the thought that to the cradle turns;—I, to my sin abandoned, keep me nearThe track of darkness and, so, disappear.
Words in this poem
- fireless a.
- Destitute of fire.
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- appalling a.
- Such as to appall; as, an appalling accident.
- tearful a.
- Abounding with tears; weeping; shedding tears; as, tearful eyes.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Voice from the Garret 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 Garret, in Poems of Giosuè Carducci (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56711, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carducci-poems/voice-from-the-garret.html, id L26530.
Form and metre
Voice from the Garret is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 work · life · hearth · me · fear · pursued · dayA · awayA
- 2 ------AA mist · radiance · disappeared · did · disappear · life · fallA · appalA
- 3 ------AA appalling · me · stare · her · stilled · eyes · claimA · shameA
- 4 ------AA visions · fond · unhappy · whiteness · binds · turns · nearA · disappearA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The bread gave out, the work | 6 | ······ |
| Fell off on which did hang our life, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And trembling sat before the fireless hearth | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| My mother, and watched me. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Pale was the face and mute with some great fear | 10 | ·········· |
| The while she watched: until, as if pursued | 10 | ········˘/ |
| By that mute stare, after the long, long day | 10 | ·········· |
| I could endure no more, and stole away. | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Down through the winter's mist | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Poured the high moon a livid radiance | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Above the muddy alley, then disappeared | 11 | ···/˘/˘··˘/ |
| Behind the clouds. So did | 6 | ······ |
| The light of youth but shine to disappear | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Upon the sorrow-mingled pathway of my life. | 12 | ···/˘/˘/···· |
| A hand touched me. I felt a foul glance fall | 10 | ·········· |
| Upon me, and words that did my heart appal. | 11 | ··········· |
| Appal! but more appalling | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| The hunger, O ye proud ones, that did drive me, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And the old mother's mute and maddening stare! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And so it came that I took bread to her! | 10 | ·········· |
| But all desire for me her fast had stilled. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Hardly on me she raised her heavy eyes, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| While I on my poor mother's breast would claim | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A place where I might hide my face and shame. | 10 | ·········· |
| Adieu, O tearful visions | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Of a once holy love and you, the fond | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Companions of a maiden most unhappy! | 11 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| For you may shine the whiteness | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Of that pure veil the mother, weeping, binds! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| For you the thought that to the cradle turns;— | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I, to my sin abandoned, keep me near | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| The track of darkness and, so, disappear. | 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.