Hugo's "Flower to Butterfly"
Sweet, bide with me and let my loveBe an enduring tether;Oh, wanton not from spot to spot,But let us dwell together.
You've come each morn to sip the sweetsWith which you found me dripping,Yet never knew it was not dewBut tears that you were sipping.
You gambol over honey meadsWhere siren bees are humming;But mine the fate to watch and waitFor my beloved's coming.
The sunshine that delights you nowShall fade to darkness gloomy;You should not fear if, biding here,You nestled closer to me.
So rest you, love, and be my love,That my enraptured bloomingMay fill your sight with tender light,Your wings with sweet perfuming.
Or, if you will not bide with meUpon this quiet heather,Oh, give me wing, thou beauteous thing,That we may soar together.
Words in this poem
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- tether n.
- A long rope or chain by which an animal is fastened, as to a stake, so that it can range or feed only within certain limits. [Formerly tedder, OE. tedir; akin to LG. tider, tier, Icel. tjo, Dan. töir. *64.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
- gambol n.
- A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. G]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- 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,]
- biding n.
- Residence; habitation. Rowe.
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hugo's "Flower to Butterfly" is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Little Book of Western Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #9606; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eugene Field, Hugo's "Flower to Butterfly", in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/hugo-s-flower-to-butterfly.html, id L24670.
Form and metre
Hugo's "Flower to Butterfly" is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 -A-A love · tetherA · spot · togetherA
- 2 -A-A sweets · drippingA · dew · sippingA
- 3 -A-A meads · hummingA · wait · comingA
- 5 -A-A love · bloomingA · light · perfumingA
- 6 -A-A me · heatherA · thing · togetherA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet, bide with me and let my love | 8 | ········ |
| Be an enduring tether; | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| Oh, wanton not from spot to spot, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But let us dwell together. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| You've come each morn to sip the sweets | 8 | ········ |
| With which you found me dripping, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Yet never knew it was not dew | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But tears that you were sipping. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| You gambol over honey meads | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Where siren bees are humming; | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| But mine the fate to watch and wait | 8 | ········ |
| For my beloved's coming. | 6 | ··˘//˘ |
| The sunshine that delights you now | 8 | ·/··˘/·· |
| Shall fade to darkness gloomy; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| You should not fear if, biding here, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You nestled closer to me. | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| So rest you, love, and be my love, | 8 | ········ |
| That my enraptured blooming | 8 | ··˘/˘˘/˘ |
| May fill your sight with tender light, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Your wings with sweet perfuming. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Or, if you will not bide with me | 8 | ········ |
| Upon this quiet heather, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Oh, give me wing, thou beauteous thing, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| That we may soar together. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
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.