Nocturne: In Provence
The blue night, like an angel, came into the room,--Came through the open window from the silent skyDown trellised stairs of moonlight into the dear roomAs if a whisper breathed of some divine one nigh.The nightingales, like brooks of song in Paradise,Gurgled their serene rapture to the silent sky--Like springs of laughter bubbling up in Paradise,The serene nightingales along the riversidePurled low in every tree their star-cool melodiesOf joy--in every tree along the riverside.
Did the vain garments melt in music from your side?Did you rise from them as a lily flowers i' the air?--But you were there before me like the Night's own bride--I dared not call you mine. So still and tall you were,I never dreamed that you were mine--I never dreamedI loved you--I forgot I loved you. You were airAnd music, and the shadows that you stood in, seemedLike priests that keep their sombre vigil round a shrine--Like sombre priests that watch about a glorious shrine.
And then you stepped into the moonlight and laid bareThe wonder of your body to the night, and stoodWith all the stars of heaven looking at you there,As simply as a saint might bare her soul to God--As simply as a saint might bathe in lakes of prayer--Stood with the holy moonlight falling on you thereUntil I thought that in a glory unawareI had seen a soul stand forth and bare itself to God--A saintly soul lay bare its innocence to God.
Words in this poem
- trellised a.
- Having a trellis or trellises.
- riverside n.
- The side or bank of a river.
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- vigil n.
- Abstinence from sleep, whether at a time when sleep is customary or not; the act of keeping awake, or the state of being awake, or the state of being awake; sleeplessness; wakefulness; watch. [OE. vigile, L. vigilia, from vigil awake, watchful, probably akin to E. wake: cf. F. vigile. See Wake, v. i., and cf. Reveille, Surveillance, Vedette, Vegetable]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- unaware a.
- Not aware; not noticing; giving no heed; thoughtless; inattentive.
- saintly a.
- Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Nocturne: In Provence is in the public domain. This text is taken from More Songs From Vagabondia, Project Gutenberg ebook #18007; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bliss Carman, Nocturne: In Provence, in More Songs from Vagabondia (1896), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18007, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carman-vagabondia/nocturne-in-provence.html, id L24709.
Form and metre
Nocturne: In Provence is 28 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABABCBCD-D roomA · skyB · roomA · nighB · paradiseC · skyB · paradiseC · riversideD · melodies · riversideD
- 2 ABA-CBCDD sideA · airB · brideA · were · dreamedC · airB · seemedC · shrineD · shrineD
- 3 A-ABAAABB bareA · stood · thereA · godB · prayerA · thereA · unawareA · godB · godB
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The blue night, like an angel, came into the room,-- | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Came through the open window from the silent sky | 12 | ···/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Down trellised stairs of moonlight into the dear room | 12 | ·/˘··/······ |
| As if a whisper breathed of some divine one nigh. | 12 | ···/˘···˘/·· |
| The nightingales, like brooks of song in Paradise, | 12 | ·/˘˘·····/˘· |
| Gurgled their serene rapture to the silent sky-- | 12 | /˘·˘//˘··/˘· |
| Like springs of laughter bubbling up in Paradise, | 12 | ···/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The serene nightingales along the riverside | 12 | ·˘//˘˘˘/·/˘· |
| Purled low in every tree their star-cool melodies | 13 | ···/˘˘····/˘˘ |
| Of joy--in every tree along the riverside. | 12 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Did the vain garments melt in music from your side? | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Did you rise from them as a lily flowers i' the air? | 13 | ·······/˘/··· |
| --But you were there before me like the Night's own bride-- | 12 | ············ |
| I dared not call you mine. So still and tall you were, | 12 | ············ |
| I never dreamed that you were mine--I never dreamed | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| I loved you--I forgot I loved you. You were air | 12 | ····˘/······ |
| And music, and the shadows that you stood in, seemed | 12 | ·/˘··/······ |
| Like priests that keep their sombre vigil round a shrine-- | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| Like sombre priests that watch about a glorious shrine. | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| And then you stepped into the moonlight and laid bare | 12 | ·······/···· |
| The wonder of your body to the night, and stood | 12 | ·/˘··/˘····· |
| With all the stars of heaven looking at you there, | 12 | ·····/˘/˘··· |
| As simply as a saint might bare her soul to God-- | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| As simply as a saint might bathe in lakes of prayer-- | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| Stood with the holy moonlight falling on you there | 12 | ···/˘/·/˘··· |
| Until I thought that in a glory unaware | 12 | ·······/˘·˘/ |
| I had seen a soul stand forth and bare itself to God-- | 13 | ·········˘/·· |
| A saintly soul lay bare its innocence to God. | 12 | ·/˘····/˘˘·· |
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.