To a Soubrette
'Tis years, soubrette, since last we met;And yet--ah, yet, how swift and tenderMy thoughts go back in time's dull trackTo you, sweet pink of female gender!I shall not say--though others may--That time all human joy enhances;But the same old thrill comes to me stillWith memories of your songs and dances.
Soubrettish ways these latter daysInvite my praise, but never get it;I still am true to yours and you--My record's made, I'll not upset it!The pranks they play, the things they say--I'd blush to put the like on paper,And I'll avow they don't know howTo dance, so awkwardly they caper!
I used to sit down in the pitAnd see you flit like elf or fairyAcross the stage, and I'll engageNo moonbeam sprite was half so airy;Lo, everywhere about me thereWere rivals reeking with pomatum,And if, perchance, they caught your glanceIn song or dance, how did I hate 'em!
At half-past ten came rapture--thenOf all those men was I most happy,For bottled beer and royal cheerAnd tetes-a-tetes were on the tapis.Do you forget, my fair soubrette,Those suppers at the Cafe Rector,--The cosey nook where we partookOf sweeter cheer than fabled nectar?
Oh, happy days, when youth's wild waysKnew every phase of harmless folly!Oh, blissful nights, whose fierce delightsDefied gaunt-featured Melancholy!Gone are they all beyond recall,And I--a shade, a mere reflection--Am forced to feed my spirit's greedUpon the husks of retrospection!
And lo! to-night, the phantom light,That, as a sprite, flits on the fender,Reveals a face whose girlish graceBrings back the feeling, warm and tender;And, all the while, the old-time smilePlays on my visage, grim and wrinkled,--As though, soubrette, your footfalls yetUpon my rusty heart-strings tinkled!
Words in this poem 17
- soubrette n.
- A female servant or attendant; specifically, as a term of the theater, a lady's maid, in comedies, who acts the part of an intrigante; a meddlesome, mischievous female servant or young woman. [F.]
- 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,]
- avow v. t.
- To bind, or to devote, by a vow. Wyclif. [OF. avouer, fr. LL. votare to vow, fr. L. votun. See Vote, n.]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
- pomatum n.
- A perfumed unguent or composition, chiefly used in dressing the hair; pomade. Wiseman. [See Pomade.]
- bottled a.
- Put into bottles; inclosed in bottles; pent up in, or as in, a bottle.
- tapis n.
- Tapestry; formerly, the cover of a council table. On, or Upon, the tapis, on the table, or under consideration; as, to lay a motion in Parliament on the tapis. [F. See Tapestry.]
- cafe n.
- A coffeehouse; a restaurant; also, a room in a hotel or restaurant where coffee and liquors are served. [F. See Coffee.]
- nook n.
- A narrow place formed by an angle in bodies or between bodies; a corner; a recess; a secluded retreat. [OE. nok; cf. Gael. & Ir. niuc.]
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- greed n.
- An eager desire or longing; greediness; as, a greed of gain. [Akin to Goth. grdus hunger, Icel. graedhr. sq. root34. See Greedy.]
- retrospection n.
- The act, or the faculty, of looking back on things past.
- fender n.
- One who or that which defends or protects by warding off harm; as: (a) A screen to prevent coals or sparks of an open fire from escaping to the floor. [From Fend, v. t. & i., cf. Defender.]
- girlish a.
- Like, or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief.
- visage n.
- The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To a Soubrette 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, To a Soubrette, in A Little Book of Western Verse (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9606, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/field-western-verse/to-a-soubrette.html, id L24683.
Form and metre
To a Soubrette is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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-B-B met · tenderA · track · genderA · may · enhancesB · still · dancesB
- 2 -A-A-B-B days · itA · you · itA · say · paperB · how · caperB
- 3 -A-A---- pit · fairyA · engage · airyA · there · pomatum · glance · em
- 4 -----A-A then · happy · cheer · tapis · soubrette · rectorA · partook · nectarA
- 5 -A-A-B-B ways · follyA · delights · melancholyA · recall · reflectionB · greed · retrospectionB
- 6 -A-A-B-B light · fenderA · grace · tenderA · smile · wrinkledB · yet · tinkledB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Tis years, soubrette, since last we met; | 8 | ········ |
| And yet--ah, yet, how swift and tender | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| My thoughts go back in time's dull track | 8 | ········ |
| To you, sweet pink of female gender! | 9 | ·····/·/˘ |
| I shall not say--though others may-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That time all human joy enhances; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| But the same old thrill comes to me still | 9 | ········· |
| With memories of your songs and dances. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Soubrettish ways these latter days | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Invite my praise, but never get it; | 8 | ˘/···/·· |
| I still am true to yours and you-- | 8 | ········ |
| My record's made, I'll not upset it! | 9 | ·/˘···˘/· |
| The pranks they play, the things they say-- | 8 | ········ |
| I'd blush to put the like on paper, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And I'll avow they don't know how | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To dance, so awkwardly they caper! | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| I used to sit down in the pit | 8 | ········ |
| And see you flit like elf or fairy | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Across the stage, and I'll engage | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| No moonbeam sprite was half so airy; | 9 | ·/·····/˘ |
| Lo, everywhere about me there | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Were rivals reeking with pomatum, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And if, perchance, they caught your glance | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| In song or dance, how did I hate 'em! | 9 | ········· |
| At half-past ten came rapture--then | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of all those men was I most happy, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| For bottled beer and royal cheer | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And tetes-a-tetes were on the tapis. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Do you forget, my fair soubrette, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Those suppers at the Cafe Rector,-- | 9 | ·/˘··˘//˘ |
| The cosey nook where we partook | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Of sweeter cheer than fabled nectar? | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Oh, happy days, when youth's wild ways | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Knew every phase of harmless folly! | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Oh, blissful nights, whose fierce delights | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Defied gaunt-featured Melancholy! | 9 | ˘/·/˘/˘·˘ |
| Gone are they all beyond recall, | 8 | ······/· |
| And I--a shade, a mere reflection-- | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Am forced to feed my spirit's greed | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Upon the husks of retrospection! | 9 | ········· |
| And lo! to-night, the phantom light, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That, as a sprite, flits on the fender, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Reveals a face whose girlish grace | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Brings back the feeling, warm and tender; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And, all the while, the old-time smile | 8 | ········ |
| Plays on my visage, grim and wrinkled,-- | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| As though, soubrette, your footfalls yet | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Upon my rusty heart-strings tinkled! | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
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