Prologue
The poplar trees sway to and froThat through this gray old garden goLike slender girls with nodding heads,Whispering above the bedsOf tall tufted hollyhocks,Of purple asters and of phlox;Caught in the daisies' dreaming goldRecklessly scattered wealth untoldAbout their slender graceful feetLike poised dancers, lithe and fleet.The candled flames of roses hereGutter gold in this still air,And clouds glide down the western skyTo watch this sun-drenched revery,While the poplars' shining crestsLightly brush their silvered breasts,Dreaming not of winter snowsThat soon will shake their maiden rows.
The days dream by, golden-white,About the fountain's silver lightThat lifts and shivers in the breezeGracefully slim as are the trees;Then shakes down its glistered hairUpon the still pool's mirrored, fairFlecked face.Why am I sad? I?Why am I not content? The skyWarms me and yet I cannot breakMy marble bonds. That quick keen snakeIs free to come and go, while IAm prisoner to dream and sighFor things I know, yet cannot know,'Twixt sky above and earth below.The spreading earth calls to my feetOf orchards bright with fruits to eat,Of hills and streams on either hand;Of sleep at night on moon-blanched sand:The whole world breathes and calls to meWho marble-bound must ever be.
Words in this poem
- phlox n.
- A genus of American herbs, having showy red, white, or purple flowers. Phlox worm (Zoöl.), the larva of an American moth (Heliothis phloxiphaga). It is destructive to phloxes.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- lithe v. i.
- To listen or listen to; to hearken to. P. Plowman. [Icel Listen.]
- revery n.
- A loose or irregular train of thought occurring in musing or mediation; deep musing; daydream. [F. réverie, fr. rêver to dream, rave, be light-headed. Cf. Rave.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prologue is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Marble Faun, Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Faulkner, Prologue, in The Marble Faun (1924), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/faulkner-marble-faun/prologue.html, id L28612.
Form and metre
Prologue is 39 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII froA · goA · headsB · bedsB · hollyhocksC · phloxC · goldD · untoldD · feetE · fleetE · hereF · airF · skyG · reveryG · crestsH · breastsH · snowsI · rowsI
- 2 AABBCC-DDEEDDFFGGHHII whiteA · lightA · breezeB · treesB · hairC · fairC · face · iD · skyD · breakE · snakeE · iD · sighD · knowF · belowF · feetG · eatG · handH · sandH · meI · beI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The poplar trees sway to and fro | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That through this gray old garden go | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Like slender girls with nodding heads, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Whispering above the beds | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Of tall tufted hollyhocks, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Of purple asters and of phlox; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Caught in the daisies' dreaming gold | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Recklessly scattered wealth untold | 8 | /˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| About their slender graceful feet | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Like poised dancers, lithe and fleet. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| The candled flames of roses here | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Gutter gold in this still air, | 7 | /˘····· |
| And clouds glide down the western sky | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To watch this sun-drenched revery, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| While the poplars' shining crests | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lightly brush their silvered breasts, | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Dreaming not of winter snows | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| That soon will shake their maiden rows. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The days dream by, golden-white, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| About the fountain's silver light | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That lifts and shivers in the breeze | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Gracefully slim as are the trees; | 8 | /˘˘····· |
| Then shakes down its glistered hair | 8 | ······˘· |
| Upon the still pool's mirrored, fair | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Flecked face. | 2 | ·· |
| Why am I sad? I? | 5 | ····· |
| Why am I not content? The sky | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Warms me and yet I cannot break | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My marble bonds. That quick keen snake | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is free to come and go, while I | 8 | ········ |
| Am prisoner to dream and sigh | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| For things I know, yet cannot know, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Twixt sky above and earth below. | 8 | ········ |
| The spreading earth calls to my feet | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of orchards bright with fruits to eat, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of hills and streams on either hand; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of sleep at night on moon-blanched sand: | 8 | ········ |
| The whole world breathes and calls to me | 8 | ········ |
| Who marble-bound must ever be. | 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.