Conversation Galante
I observe: “Our sentimental friend the moonOr possibly (fantastic, I confess)It may be Prester John’s balloonOr an old battered lantern hung aloftTo light poor travellers to their distress.”She then: “How you digress!”
And I then: “Some one frames upon the keysThat exquisite nocturne, with which we explainThe night and moonshine; music which we seizeTo body forth our own vacuity.”She then: “Does this refer to me?”“Oh no, it is I who am inane.”
“You, madam, are the eternal humoristThe eternal enemy of the absolute,Giving our vagrant moods the slightest twistWith your air indifferent and imperiousAt a stroke our mad poetics to confute--”And--“Are we then so serious?”
Words in this poem
- sentimental a.
- Having, expressing, or containing a sentiment or sentiments; abounding with moral reflections; containing a moral reflection; didactic. [Cf. F. sentimental.]
- prester n.
- A meteor or exhalation formerly supposed to be thrown from the clouds with such violence that by collision it is set on fire.
- digress n.
- Digression. Fuller.
- nocturne n.
- A night piece, or serenade. The name is now used for a certain graceful and expressive form of instrumental composition, as the nocturne for orchestra in Mendelsohn's [F. See Nocturn.]
- moonshine n.
- The light of the moon.
- vacuity n.
- The quality or state of being vacuous, or not filled; emptiness; vacancy; as, vacuity of mind; vacuity of countenance. [L. vacuitas. See Vacuous.]
- inane a.
- Without contents; empty; void of sense or intelligence; purposeless; pointless; characterless; useless. [L. inanis.]
- humorist n.
- One who attributes diseases of the state of the humors. [Cf. F. humoriste.]
- imperious a.
- Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
- poetics n.
- The principles and rules of the art of poetry. J. Warton.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Conversation Galante is in the public domain. This text is taken from Prufrock and Other Observations, Project Gutenberg ebook #1459; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: T. S. Eliot, Conversation Galante, in Prufrock and Other Observations (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1459, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/eliot-prufrock/conversation-galante.html, id L04661.
Form and metre
Conversation Galante is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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-BB moonA · confessB · balloonA · aloft · distressB · digressB
- 2 ABA--B keysA · explainB · seizeA · vacuity · me · inaneB
- 3 ABACBC humoristA · absoluteB · twistA · imperiousC · confuteB · seriousC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I observe: “Our sentimental friend the moon | 11 | ·˘//·˘/˘··· |
| Or possibly (fantastic, I confess) | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| It may be Prester John’s balloon | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Or an old battered lantern hung aloft | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| To light poor travellers to their distress.” | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| She then: “How you digress!” | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And I then: “Some one frames upon the keys | 10 | ·········· |
| That exquisite nocturne, with which we explain | 10 | ·/˘˘/···˘/ |
| The night and moonshine; music which we seize | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| To body forth our own vacuity.” | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| She then: “Does this refer to me?” | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| “Oh no, it is I who am inane.” | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| “You, madam, are the eternal humorist | 11 | ·/˘··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| The eternal enemy of the absolute, | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Giving our vagrant moods the slightest twist | 10 | /˘//˘··/˘· |
| With your air indifferent and imperious | 11 | ···˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| At a stroke our mad poetics to confute--” | 11 | ···/·˘/˘··· |
| And--“Are we then so serious?” | 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.