After Writing My Dramatic Review
My columns are ranged and steady,Upbearing, though sad forespent,The newspaper pediment,And my review is ready.
Now for a week, poetaster,My door is bolted. Away,Thou still-born masterpiece,--aye,Till Monday I am my master.
No melodrama shall whitenMy labour with threadbare leaves.The warp that my fancy weavesWith silken flowers shall brighten.
Brief moment my spirit's warder,Ye voices of soul that float,I'll hearken your sorrow's note,Nor verses evoke to order.
Then deep in my glass regainingThe health of a day gone by,--Old visions for company--The bloom of my vintage draining,
The wine of my thought I'll measure,Wine virgin of alien glow,Grapes trodden by life, that flowFrom my heart at my heart's own pleasure!
Words in this poem
- forespent a.
- Already spent; gone by; past. [Fore + spent.]
- poetaster n.
- An inferior rhymer, or writer of verses; a dabbler in poetic art.
- masterpiece n.
- Anything done or made with extraordinary skill; a capital performance; a chef-d'oeuvre; a supreme achievement.
- 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,]
- threadbare a.
- Worn to the naked thread; having the nap worn off; threadbare clothes.
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
- warder n.
- One who wards or keeps; a keeper; a guard.
- evoke v. t.
- To call out; to summon forth. [L. evocare; e out + vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice: cf. F évoquer. See Voice, and cf. Evocate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
After Writing My Dramatic Review 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, After Writing My Dramatic Review, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/after-writing-my-dramatic-review.html, id L27024.
Form and metre
After Writing My Dramatic Review is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%).
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 ABBA steadyA · forespentB · pedimentB · readyA
- 2 A--A poetasterA · away · aye · masterA
- 3 ABBA whitenA · leavesB · weavesB · brightenA
- 4 ABBA warderA · floatB · noteB · orderA
- 5 A--A regainingA · by · company · drainingA
- 6 ABBA measureA · glowB · flowB · pleasureA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My columns are ranged and steady, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Upbearing, though sad forespent, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| The newspaper pediment, | 7 | ·/·˘/˘˘ |
| And my review is ready. | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| Now for a week, poetaster, | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| My door is bolted. Away, | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| Thou still-born masterpiece,--aye, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Till Monday I am my master. | 8 | ·/····/˘ |
| No melodrama shall whiten | 8 | ·/˘·˘·/˘ |
| My labour with threadbare leaves. | 7 | ·/˘·/·· |
| The warp that my fancy weaves | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With silken flowers shall brighten. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Brief moment my spirit's warder, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Ye voices of soul that float, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| I'll hearken your sorrow's note, | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Nor verses evoke to order. | 8 | ·/˘˘/·/˘ |
| Then deep in my glass regaining | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| The health of a day gone by,-- | 7 | ······· |
| Old visions for company-- | 7 | ·/˘·/˘˘ |
| The bloom of my vintage draining, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| The wine of my thought I'll measure, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Wine virgin of alien glow, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Grapes trodden by life, that flow | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| From my heart at my heart's own pleasure! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
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.