For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen
“And so we may arrive by Talmud skillAnd profane Greek to raise the building upOf Helen’s house against the Ismaelite,King of Thogarma, and his habergeonsBrimstony, blue and fiery; and the forceOf King Abaddon, and the beast of Cittim;Which Rabbi David Kimchi, Onkelos,And Aben Ezra do interpret Rome.”
Words in this poem
- ismaelite n.
- One of a sect of Mohammedans who favored the pretensions of the family of Mohammed ben Ismael, of the house Ali.
- brimstony a.
- Containing or resembling brimstone; sulphurous. B. Jonson.
- abaddon n.
- The destroyer, or angel of the bottomless pit; -- the same as Apollyon and Asmodeus. [Heb. abaddon destruction, abyss, fr. abad to be lost, to perish.]
- rabbi n.
- Master; lord; teacher; -- a Jewish title of respect or honor for a teacher or doctor of the law.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen is in the public domain. This text is taken from White buildings, Project Gutenberg ebook #77837; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hart Crane, For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen, in White Buildings (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #77837, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crane-hart-white-buildings/for-the-marriage-of-faustus-and-helen.html, id L02609.
Form and metre
For the Marriage of Faustus and Helen is 8 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “And so we may arrive by Talmud skill | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And profane Greek to raise the building up | 10 | ·˘/····/˘· |
| Of Helen’s house against the Ismaelite, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| King of Thogarma, and his habergeons | 10 | ·········· |
| Brimstony, blue and fiery; and the force | 10 | /˘··/˘˘··· |
| Of King Abaddon, and the beast of Cittim; | 11 | ··˘/˘······ |
| Which Rabbi David Kimchi, Onkelos, | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘··· |
| And Aben Ezra do interpret Rome.” | 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.