The Garden of Dreams
Not while I live may I forgetThat garden which my spirit trod!Where dreams were flowers, wild and wet,And beautiful as God.
Not while I breathe, awake, adream,Shall live again for me those hours,When, in its mystery and gleam,I met her 'mid the flowers.
Eyes, talismanic heliotrope,Beneath mesmeric lashes, whereThe sorceries of love and hopeHad made a shining lair.
And daydawn brows, whereover hungThe twilight of dark locks: wild birds,Her lips, that spoke the rose's tongueOf fragrance-voweled words.
I will not tell of cheeks and chin,That held me as sweet language holds;Nor of the eloquence withinHer breasts' twin-moonéd molds.
Nor of her body's languorousWind-grace, that glanced like starlight throughHer clinging robe's diaphanousWeb of the mist and dew.
There is no star so pure and highAs was her look; no fragrance suchAs her soft presence; and no sighOf music like her touch.
Not while I live may I forgetThat garden of dim dreams, where IAnd Beauty born of Music met,Whose spirit passed me by.
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- talismanic a.
- Of or pertaining to a talisman; having the properties of a talisman, or preservative against evils by occult influence; magical. [Cf. F. talismanique.]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- languorous a.
- Producing, or tending to produce, languor; characterized by languor. [From Languor: cf. F. langoureux.]
- starlight n.
- The light given by the stars.
- diaphanous a.
- Allowing light to pass through, as porcelain; translucent or transparent; pellucid; clear. [Gr. diaphane. See Phantom, and cf. Diaphane, Diaphanic.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Garden of Dreams is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, The Garden of Dreams, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-garden-of-dreams.html, id L10899.
Form and metre
The Garden of Dreams is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB forgetA · trodB · wetA · godB
- 2 ABAB adreamA · hoursB · gleamA · flowersB
- 3 ABAB heliotropeA · whereB · hopeA · lairB
- 4 ABAB hungA · birdsB · tongueA · wordsB
- 5 ABAB chinA · holdsB · withinA · moldsB
- 6 ABAB languorousA · throughB · diaphanousA · dewB
- 7 ABAB highA · suchB · sighA · touchB
- 8 ABAB forgetA · iB · metA · byB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Not while I live may I forget | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That garden which my spirit trod! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where dreams were flowers, wild and wet, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And beautiful as God. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Not while I breathe, awake, adream, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Shall live again for me those hours, | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| When, in its mystery and gleam, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| I met her 'mid the flowers. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Eyes, talismanic heliotrope, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath mesmeric lashes, where | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sorceries of love and hope | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Had made a shining lair. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And daydawn brows, whereover hung | 8 | ········ |
| The twilight of dark locks: wild birds, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Her lips, that spoke the rose's tongue | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of fragrance-voweled words. | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| I will not tell of cheeks and chin, | 8 | ········ |
| That held me as sweet language holds; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor of the eloquence within | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Her breasts' twin-moonéd molds. | 5 | ····· |
| Nor of her body's languorous | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Wind-grace, that glanced like starlight through | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Her clinging robe's diaphanous | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Web of the mist and dew. | 6 | ······ |
| There is no star so pure and high | 8 | ········ |
| As was her look; no fragrance such | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As her soft presence; and no sigh | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of music like her touch. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Not while I live may I forget | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That garden of dim dreams, where I | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And Beauty born of Music met, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whose spirit passed me by. | 7 | ·/˘·˘·· |
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.