Camellia and Meadow-Daisy
We praise the hot-house flowers that loomFar from their native sun and shade,The flaring forms that flaunt their bloom,Like jewels under glass displayed.
With never breeze to kiss their heads,They have their birth and live and dieOn costly, artificial beds,Beneath an ever-crystal sky.
For whomsoever idly scans,Baring their treasures to entice,Like fair and sumptuous courtesans,They stand for sale at golden price.
Fine porcelain holds their gathered groups,Or glove-clad fingers fondle themBetween the dances, till each droopsUpon a limp or broken stem.
But down amid the grass unreaped,Shunning the curious, in reposeAnd silence all the long day steeped,A little woodland daisy blows.
A butterfly upon the wingTo point the place, a casual look,And you surprise the sweet, shy thing,Within its calm, sequestered nook.
Beneath the blue it openeth,Rising on slender, vernal rod,Spreading its soul in fragrant breathFor solitude and for its God.
And proud camellias tall and white,Red tulips in a flaming mass,Are all at once forgotten quite,For the small flower amid the grass.
Words in this poem
- flaunt n.
- Anything displayed for show.
- whomsoever pron.
- The objective of whosoever. See Whosoever.
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- 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]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Camellia and Meadow-Daisy 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, Camellia and Meadow-Daisy, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/camellia-and-meadow-daisy.html, id L27026.
Form and metre
Camellia and Meadow-Daisy is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. 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 ABAB loomA · shadeB · bloomA · displayedB
- 2 ABAB headsA · dieB · bedsA · skyB
- 3 ABAB scansA · enticeB · courtesansA · priceB
- 4 ABAB groupsA · themB · droopsA · stemB
- 5 ABAB unreapedA · reposeB · steepedA · blowsB
- 6 ABAB wingA · lookB · thingA · nookB
- 7 ABAB openethA · rodB · breathA · godB
- 8 ABAB whiteA · massB · quiteA · grassB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We praise the hot-house flowers that loom | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Far from their native sun and shade, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The flaring forms that flaunt their bloom, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like jewels under glass displayed. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| With never breeze to kiss their heads, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They have their birth and live and die | 8 | ········ |
| On costly, artificial beds, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Beneath an ever-crystal sky. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| For whomsoever idly scans, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Baring their treasures to entice, | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Like fair and sumptuous courtesans, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They stand for sale at golden price. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fine porcelain holds their gathered groups, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or glove-clad fingers fondle them | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Between the dances, till each droops | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon a limp or broken stem. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But down amid the grass unreaped, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Shunning the curious, in repose | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| And silence all the long day steeped, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A little woodland daisy blows. | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| A butterfly upon the wing | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To point the place, a casual look, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And you surprise the sweet, shy thing, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Within its calm, sequestered nook. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Beneath the blue it openeth, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Rising on slender, vernal rod, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| Spreading its soul in fragrant breath | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| For solitude and for its God. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And proud camellias tall and white, | 8 | ········ |
| Red tulips in a flaming mass, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Are all at once forgotten quite, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| For the small flower amid the grass. | 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.