Ivo of Chartres
Now may it please my lord, Louis the king,Lily of Christ and France! riding his quest,I, Bishop Ivo, saw a wondrous thing.
There was no light of sun left in the west,And slowly did the moon’s new light increase.Heaven, without cloud, above the near hill’s crest,Lay passion-purple in a breathless peace.Stars started like still tears, in rapture shed,Which without consciousness the lids release.
All steadily, one little sparkle red,Afar, drew close. A woman’s form grew upOut of the dimness, tall, with queen-like head,And in one hand was fire; in one, a cup.Of aspect grave she was, with eyes upraised,As one whose thoughts perpetually did supAt the Lord’s table.
While the cresset blazed,Her I regarded. “Daughter, whither bent,And wherefore?” As by speech of man amazed,One moment her deep look to me she lent;Then, in a voice of hymn-like, solemn fall,Calm, as by rote, she spake out her intent:
“I in my cruse bear water, wherewithalTo quench the flames of Hell; and with my fireI Paradise would burn: that hence no smallFear shall impel, and no mean hope shall hire,Men to serve God as they have served of yore;But to His will shall set their whole desire,For love, love, love alone, forevermore!”
And “love, love, love,” rang round her as she passedFrom sight, with mystic murmurs o’er and o’erReverbed from hollow heaven, as from some vast,Deep-coloured, vaulted, ocean-answering shell.I, Ivo, had no power to ban or bless,But was as one withholden by a spell.Forward she fared in lofty loneliness,Urged on by an imperious inward stress,To waste fair Eden, and to drown fierce Hell.
Words in this poem
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- perpetually adv.
- In a perpetual manner; constantly; continually.
- cresset n.
- An open frame or basket of iron, filled with combustible material, to be burned as a beacon; an open lamp or firrepan carried on a pole in nocturnal processions. [OF. crasset, cresset, sort of lamp or torch; perh. of Dutch or German origin, and akin to E. cruse, F. creuset crucible, E. crucible.]
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- rote v. t.
- To learn or repeat by rote.
- 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,]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- imperious a.
- Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ivo of Chartres is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, Ivo of Chartres, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/ivo-of-chartres.html, id L22059.
Form and metre
Ivo of Chartres is 38 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABA kingA · questB · thingA
- 2 BCBCDC westB · increaseC · crestB · peaceC · shedD · releaseC
- 3 DEDEFE- redD · upE · headD · cupE · upraisedF · supE · table
- 4 FGFGHG blazedF · bentG · amazedF · lentG · fallH · intentG
- 5 HIHIJIJ wherewithalH · fireI · smallH · hireI · yoreJ · desireI · forevermoreJ
- 6 K-KLML-ML passedK · o'er · vastK · shellL · blessM · spellL · loneliness · stressM · hellL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now may it please my lord, Louis the king, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Lily of Christ and France! riding his quest, | 10 | /˘····/˘·· |
| I, Bishop Ivo, saw a wondrous thing. | 11 | ·/˘///··/˘· |
| There was no light of sun left in the west, | 10 | ·········· |
| And slowly did the moon’s new light increase. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Heaven, without cloud, above the near hill’s crest, | 10 | /········· |
| Lay passion-purple in a breathless peace. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Stars started like still tears, in rapture shed, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Which without consciousness the lids release. | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| All steadily, one little sparkle red, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘· |
| Afar, drew close. A woman’s form grew up | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Out of the dimness, tall, with queen-like head, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And in one hand was fire; in one, a cup. | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Of aspect grave she was, with eyes upraised, | 10 | ·/········ |
| As one whose thoughts perpetually did sup | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| At the Lord’s table. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| While the cresset blazed, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Her I regarded. “Daughter, whither bent, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| And wherefore?” As by speech of man amazed, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| One moment her deep look to me she lent; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Then, in a voice of hymn-like, solemn fall, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Calm, as by rote, she spake out her intent: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| “I in my cruse bear water, wherewithal | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To quench the flames of Hell; and with my fire | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I Paradise would burn: that hence no small | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Fear shall impel, and no mean hope shall hire, | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Men to serve God as they have served of yore; | 10 | ·········· |
| But to His will shall set their whole desire, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| For love, love, love alone, forevermore!” | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| And “love, love, love,” rang round her as she passed | 10 | ·········· |
| From sight, with mystic murmurs o’er and o’er | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Reverbed from hollow heaven, as from some vast, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/···· |
| Deep-coloured, vaulted, ocean-answering shell. | 10 | ·/˘/˘//˘˘· |
| I, Ivo, had no power to ban or bless, | 11 | ·///··/···· |
| But was as one withholden by a spell. | 10 | ·········· |
| Forward she fared in lofty loneliness, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘˘ |
| Urged on by an imperious inward stress, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| To waste fair Eden, and to drown fierce Hell. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
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