The Mameluke
She was a queen. 'Midst mutes and slaves,A mameluke, he loved her.----WavesDashed not more hopelessly the pavesOf her high marble palace-stairThan lashed his love his heart's despair.--As souls in Hell dream Paradise,He suffered yet forgot it thereBeneath Rommaneh's houri eyes.
With passion eating at his heartHe served her beauty, but dared dartNo amorous glance, nor word impart.--Taïfi leather's perfumed tanBeneath her, on a low divanShe lay 'mid cushions stuffed with down:A slave-girl with an ostrich fanSat by her in a golden gown.
She bade him sing. Fair lutanist,She loved his voice. With one white wrist,Hooped with a blaze of amethyst,She raised her ruby-crusted lute:Gold-welted stuff, like some rich fruit,Her raiment, diamond-showered, rolledFolds pigeon-purple, whence one footDrooped in an anklet-twist of gold.
He stood and sang with all the fireThat boiled within his blood's desire,That made him all her slave yet higher:And at the end his passion durstQuench with one burning kiss its thirst.--O eunuchs, did her face show scornWhen through his heart your daggers burst?And dare ye say he died forlorn?
Words in this poem
- houri n.
- A nymph of paradise; -- so called by the Mohammedans. [Per. huri, hura, hur; akin to Ar. hur, pl. of ahwar beautiful-eyed, black-eyed.]
- divan n.
- A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] [Per. diwan a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwan, F. divan.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- lutanist n.
- A person that plays on the lute. Johnson. [LL.lutanista, fr. lutana lute. See Lute the instrument.]
- amethyst
- A variety of crystallized quartz, of a purple or bluish violet color, of different shades. It is much used as a jeweler's stone. [F. ametiste, amatiste, F. améthyste, L. amethystus, fr. Gr. Mead.]
- forlorn a.
- Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Mameluke 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 Mameluke, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/the-mameluke.html, id L10957.
Form and metre
The Mameluke is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AAABBCBC, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 5 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 AAABB-B- slavesA · wavesA · pavesA · stairB · despairB · paradise · thereB · eyes
- 2 AAABBCBC heartA · dartA · impartA · tanB · divanB · downC · fanB · gownC
- 3 AAABBC-C lutanistA · wristA · amethystA · luteB · fruitB · rolledC · foot · goldC
- 4 AAABBCBC fireA · desireA · higherA · durstB · thirstB · scornC · burstB · forlornC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| She was a queen. 'Midst mutes and slaves, | 8 | ········ |
| A mameluke, he loved her.----Waves | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Dashed not more hopelessly the paves | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Of her high marble palace-stair | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Than lashed his love his heart's despair.-- | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As souls in Hell dream Paradise, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He suffered yet forgot it there | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Beneath Rommaneh's houri eyes. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With passion eating at his heart | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| He served her beauty, but dared dart | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No amorous glance, nor word impart.-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Taïfi leather's perfumed tan | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Beneath her, on a low divan | 8 | ······˘/ |
| She lay 'mid cushions stuffed with down: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A slave-girl with an ostrich fan | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sat by her in a golden gown. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She bade him sing. Fair lutanist, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| She loved his voice. With one white wrist, | 8 | ········ |
| Hooped with a blaze of amethyst, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| She raised her ruby-crusted lute: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Gold-welted stuff, like some rich fruit, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her raiment, diamond-showered, rolled | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Folds pigeon-purple, whence one foot | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Drooped in an anklet-twist of gold. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He stood and sang with all the fire | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That boiled within his blood's desire, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| That made him all her slave yet higher: | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And at the end his passion durst | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Quench with one burning kiss its thirst.-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O eunuchs, did her face show scorn | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When through his heart your daggers burst? | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And dare ye say he died forlorn? | 8 | ······˘/ |
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.