Affinity: A Pantheistic Madrigal
On an ancient temple gleaming,Two great blocks of marble highThrice a thousand years lay dreamingDreams against an Attic sky.
Set within one silver whiteness,Two wave-tears for Venus shed,Two fair pearls of orient brightness,Through the waste of water sped.
In the Generalife's fresh closes,By a Moorish light illumed,Two delicious, tender rosesBy a fountain met and bloomed.
In the balm of May's bright weather,Where the domes of Venice rise,Lighted on Love's nest togetherTwo pale doves from azure skies.
All things vanish into wonder,Marble, pearl, dove, rose on tree,Pearl shall melt and marble sunder,Flower shall fade and bird shall flee!
Not a smallest part but lowlyThrough the crucible must pass,Where all shapes are molten slowlyIn the universal mass.
Then as gradual Time disclosesMarbles melt to whitest skin,Roses red to lips of roses,And anew the lives begin.
And again the doves are plightedIn the hearts of lovers, whileOcean pearls are reunited,Set within a coral smile.
Thus affinity comes welling;By its beauty everywhereSoul a sister-soul foretelling,All awakened and aware.
Quickened by a zephyr sunny,Or a perfume, subtlewise,As the bee unto the honey,Atom unto atom flies.
And remembered are the hoursIn the temple, down the blue,And the talks amid the flowers,Near the fount of crystal dew,
Kisses warm, and on the royalGolden domes the wings that beat;For the atoms all are loyal,And again must love and greet.
Love forgotten wakes imperious,For the past is never dead,And the rose with joy deliriousBreathes again from lips of red.
Marble on the flesh of maidenFeels its own white bloom, and faintKnows the dove a murmur ladenWith the echo of its plaint,
Till resistance giveth over,And the barriers fall undone,And the stranger is the lover,And affinity hath won!
You before whose face I tremble,Say--what past we know not ofCalled our fates to reassemble,--Pearl or marble, rose or dove?
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- zephyr n.
- The west wind; poetically, any soft, gentle breeze. [L. zephyrus, Gr. zéphyr.]
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- imperious a.
- Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
- plaint n.
- Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament. Chaucer."The Psalmist's mournful plaint." [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L. plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p.p.), to beat, beat the breast, lament. Cf. Complain, Plague, Plangent.]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- reassemble v. t.
- To assemble again.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Affinity: A Pantheistic Madrigal is in the public domain. This text is taken from Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, the Agnes Lee translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Théophile Gautier, Affinity: A Pantheistic Madrigal, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/affinity-a-pantheistic-madrigal.html, id L26985.
Form and metre
Affinity: A Pantheistic Madrigal is 64 lines in 16 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABAB gleamingA · highB · dreamingA · skyB
- 2 ABAB whitenessA · shedB · brightnessA · spedB
- 3 ABAB closesA · illumedB · rosesA · bloomedB
- 4 ABAB weatherA · riseB · togetherA · skiesB
- 5 ABAB wonderA · treeB · sunderA · fleeB
- 6 ABAB lowlyA · passB · slowlyA · massB
- 7 ABAB disclosesA · skinB · rosesA · beginB
- 8 ABAB plightedA · whileB · reunitedA · smileB
- 9 ABAB wellingA · everywhereB · foretellingA · awareB
- 10 ABAB sunnyA · subtlewiseB · honeyA · fliesB
- 11 ABAB hoursA · blueB · flowersA · dewB
- 12 ABAB royalA · beatB · loyalA · greetB
- 13 ABAB imperiousA · deadB · deliriousA · redB
- 14 ABAB maidenA · faintB · ladenA · plaintB
- 15 ABAB overA · undoneB · loverA · wonB
- 16 ABAB trembleA · ofB · reassembleA · doveB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On an ancient temple gleaming, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Two great blocks of marble high | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thrice a thousand years lay dreaming | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Dreams against an Attic sky. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Set within one silver whiteness, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Two wave-tears for Venus shed, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Two fair pearls of orient brightness, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Through the waste of water sped. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In the Generalife's fresh closes, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| By a Moorish light illumed, | 8 | ··/˘···˘ |
| Two delicious, tender roses | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| By a fountain met and bloomed. | 8 | ··/˘···˘ |
| In the balm of May's bright weather, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Where the domes of Venice rise, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lighted on Love's nest together | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Two pale doves from azure skies. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| All things vanish into wonder, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Marble, pearl, dove, rose on tree, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Pearl shall melt and marble sunder, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Flower shall fade and bird shall flee! | 8 | /˘······ |
| Not a smallest part but lowly | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Through the crucible must pass, | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Where all shapes are molten slowly | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| In the universal mass. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Then as gradual Time discloses | 9 | ··/˘˘·˘/˘ |
| Marbles melt to whitest skin, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Roses red to lips of roses, | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| And anew the lives begin. | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| And again the doves are plighted | 8 | ·˘/···/˘ |
| In the hearts of lovers, while | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Ocean pearls are reunited, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Set within a coral smile. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thus affinity comes welling; | 8 | ·˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| By its beauty everywhere | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Soul a sister-soul foretelling, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| All awakened and aware. | 8 | ·˘/˘˘·˘/ |
| Quickened by a zephyr sunny, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Or a perfume, subtlewise, | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| As the bee unto the honey, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Atom unto atom flies. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And remembered are the hours | 8 | ·˘/˘··/˘ |
| In the temple, down the blue, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the talks amid the flowers, | 8 | ···˘/·/˘ |
| Near the fount of crystal dew, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Kisses warm, and on the royal | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Golden domes the wings that beat; | 7 | /˘····· |
| For the atoms all are loyal, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And again must love and greet. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Love forgotten wakes imperious, | 9 | ·˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| For the past is never dead, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And the rose with joy delirious | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| Breathes again from lips of red. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Marble on the flesh of maiden | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| Feels its own white bloom, and faint | 7 | ······· |
| Knows the dove a murmur laden | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| With the echo of its plaint, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Till resistance giveth over, | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘·· |
| And the barriers fall undone, | 8 | ··/˘˘·˘/ |
| And the stranger is the lover, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And affinity hath won! | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| You before whose face I tremble, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Say--what past we know not of | 7 | ······· |
| Called our fates to reassemble,-- | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Pearl or marble, rose or dove? | 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.