Pierrot Withdraw
It goes too fast.
'Tis done. I win my forfeit at the last.
Thou art not quick enough. Who hopes to catchA moon-beam, must use twice as much despatch.
I grow aweary, and my heart is sore,Thou dost not love me; I will play no more.
What is this petulance?
'Tis quick to tell--Thou hast but mocked me.
Nay, I love thee well!
Repeat those words, for still within my breastA whisper warns me they are said in jest.
I jested not: at daybreak I must go,Yet loving thee far better than thou know.
Then, by this altar, and this sacred shrine,Take my sworn troth, and swear thee wholly mine!The Gods have wedded mortals long ere this.
There was enough betrothal in my kiss.What need of further oaths?
That bound not thee!
Peace! since I tell thee that it may not be.But sit beside me whilst I soothe thy baleWith some moon fancy or celestial tale.
Tell me of thee, and that dim, happy placeWhere lies thine home, with maidens of thy race!
Calm is it yonder, very calm; the airFor mortal's breath is too refined and rare;Hard by a green lagoon our palace rearsIts dome of agate through a myriad years.A hundred chambers its bright walls enthrone,Each one carved strangely from a precious stone.Within the fairest, clad in purity,Our mother dwelleth immemorially:Moon-calm, moon-pale, with moon stones on her gownThe floor she treads with little pearls is sown;She sits upon a throne of amethysts,And orders mortal fortunes as she lists;I, and my sisters, all around her stand,And, when she speaks, accomplish her demand.
Methought grim Clotho and her sisters twainWith shrivelled fingers spun this web of bane!
Theirs and my mother's realm is far apart,Hers is the lustrous kingdom of the heart,And dreamers all, and all who sing and love,Her power acknowledge, and her rule approve.
Me, even me, she hath led into this grove.
Yea, thou art one of hers! But, ere this night,Often I watched my sisters take their flightDown heaven's stairway of the clustered starsTo gaze on mortals through their lattice bars;And some in sleep they woo with dreams of blissToo shadowy to tell, and some they kiss.But all to whom they come, my sisters say,Forthwith forget all joyance of the day,Forget their laughter and forget their tears,And dream away with singing all their years--Moon-lovers always!
Why art sad, sweet Moon?
For this, my story, grant me now a boon.
I am thy servitor.
Would, then, I knewMore of the earth, what men and women do.
I will explain.
Let brevity attendThy wit, for night approaches to its end.
Once was I a page at Court, so trust in me:That's the first lesson of society.
Words in this poem 21
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- betrothal n.
- The act of betrothing, or the fact of being betrothed; a mutual promise, engagement, or contract for a future marriage between the persons betrothed; betrothment; affiance.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- lagoon n.
- A shallow sound, channel, pond, or lake, especially one into which the sea flows; as, the lagoons of Venice. [It. or Sp. laguna, L. lacuna ditch, pool, pond,lacus lake. See Lake, and cf. Lacuna.]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- enthrone v. t.
- To seat on a throne; to exalt to the seat of royalty or of high authority; hence, to invest with sovereign authority or dignity. [Pref. en- + throne: cf. OF. enthroner. Cf. Inthronize.]
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- immemorially adv.
- Beyond memory. Bentley.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- stairway n.
- A flight of stairs or steps; a staircase.
- forthwith adv.
- Immediately; without delay; directly.
- joyance n.
- Enjoyment; gayety; festivity; joyfulness. [OF. joiance.]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
- servitor n.
- One who serves; a servant; an attendant; one who acts under another; a follower or adherent. [L., fr. servire to serve: cf. F. serviteur.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pierrot Withdraw is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems and Prose of Ernest Dowson, With a Memoir by Arthur Symons, Project Gutenberg ebook #8497; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ernest Dowson, Pierrot Withdraw, in The Poems of Ernest Dowson (1896–1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8497, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/dowson-poems/pierrot-withdraw.html, id L01660.
Form and metre
Pierrot Withdraw is 67 lines in 26 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, 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 9.0 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 A fastA
- 2 A lastA
- 3 BB catchB · despatchB
- 4 CC soreC · moreC
- 6 D- tellD · me
- 7 D wellD
- 8 EE breastE · jestE
- 9 FF goF · knowF
- 10 GGH shrineG · mineG · thisH
- 11 H- kissH · oaths
- 12 I theeI
- 13 IJJ beI · baleJ · taleJ
- 14 KK placeK · raceK
- 15 LLMMNN---N--OO airL · rareL · rearsM · yearsM · enthroneN · stoneN · purity · immemorially · gown · sownN · amethysts · lists · standO · demandO
- 16 PP twainP · baneP
- 17 QQ-- apartQ · heartQ · love · approve
- 19 AABBCCDDEE- nightA · flightA · starsB · barsB · blissC · kissC · sayD · dayD · tearsE · yearsE · always
- 20 V moonV
- 21 V boonV
- 23 WW knewW · doW
- 25 XX attendX · endX
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It goes too fast. | 4 | ···· |
| 'Tis done. I win my forfeit at the last. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thou art not quick enough. Who hopes to catch | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| A moon-beam, must use twice as much despatch. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I grow aweary, and my heart is sore, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Thou dost not love me; I will play no more. | 10 | ·········· |
| What is this petulance? | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| 'Tis quick to tell-- | 4 | ···· |
| Thou hast but mocked me. | 5 | ····· |
| Nay, I love thee well! | 5 | ····· |
| Repeat those words, for still within my breast | 10 | ˘/········ |
| A whisper warns me they are said in jest. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I jested not: at daybreak I must go, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Yet loving thee far better than thou know. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Then, by this altar, and this sacred shrine, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Take my sworn troth, and swear thee wholly mine! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The Gods have wedded mortals long ere this. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| There was enough betrothal in my kiss. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| What need of further oaths? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That bound not thee! | 4 | ···· |
| Peace! since I tell thee that it may not be. | 10 | ·········· |
| But sit beside me whilst I soothe thy bale | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| With some moon fancy or celestial tale. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Tell me of thee, and that dim, happy place | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Where lies thine home, with maidens of thy race! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Calm is it yonder, very calm; the air | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For mortal's breath is too refined and rare; | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| Hard by a green lagoon our palace rears | 10 | ····˘///˘· |
| Its dome of agate through a myriad years. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A hundred chambers its bright walls enthrone, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Each one carved strangely from a precious stone. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Within the fairest, clad in purity, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Our mother dwelleth immemorially: | 10 | //˘/˘····· |
| Moon-calm, moon-pale, with moon stones on her gown | 10 | ·········· |
| The floor she treads with little pearls is sown; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| She sits upon a throne of amethysts, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And orders mortal fortunes as she lists; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| I, and my sisters, all around her stand, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And, when she speaks, accomplish her demand. | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Methought grim Clotho and her sisters twain | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| With shrivelled fingers spun this web of bane! | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Theirs and my mother's realm is far apart, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Hers is the lustrous kingdom of the heart, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And dreamers all, and all who sing and love, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Her power acknowledge, and her rule approve. | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Me, even me, she hath led into this grove. | 10 | ·/········ |
| Yea, thou art one of hers! But, ere this night, | 10 | ·········· |
| Often I watched my sisters take their flight | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Down heaven's stairway of the clustered stars | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| To gaze on mortals through their lattice bars; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And some in sleep they woo with dreams of bliss | 10 | ·········· |
| Too shadowy to tell, and some they kiss. | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| But all to whom they come, my sisters say, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Forthwith forget all joyance of the day, | 10 | //˘/·/˘··· |
| Forget their laughter and forget their tears, | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/·· |
| And dream away with singing all their years-- | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Moon-lovers always! | 5 | ·/˘/· |
| Why art sad, sweet Moon? | 5 | ····· |
| For this, my story, grant me now a boon. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| I am thy servitor. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Would, then, I knew | 4 | ···· |
| More of the earth, what men and women do. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I will explain. | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Let brevity attend | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| Thy wit, for night approaches to its end. | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Once was I a page at Court, so trust in me: | 11 | ··········· |
| That's the first lesson of society. | 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.