Laurel · Théophile Gautier · Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

Eyes of Blue

Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), translated by Agnes Lee · 1903

iambic trimeter · ABAB · 56 lines · from Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

A woman, mystic, sweet,Whose beauty draws my soul,Stands silent where the fleetAnd singing waters roll.

Her eyes, the mirrored noteOf heaven, merge heaven's blueBestarred of lights remote,With the sea's glaucous hue.

Within their languor set,Smiles sadness infinite.Tears make the sparkles wet,And tender grows the light.

Like sea-gulls from aloftThat graze the ocean free,Her lashes flutter softUpon an azure sea.

As slumbering treasures drownedSend shimmers lightly up,Gleams through the tide profoundThe King of Thule's cup.

Athwart the weedy swirlBrilliant, the waves upon,Shine Cleopatra's pearl,And ring of Solomon.

The crown to ocean cast,That Schiller showed to us,Still under sea caught fast,Beams clear and luminous.

A magic in that gazeDraws me, mad venturer!Thus mermaid's magic waysDrew Harold Haarfager.

And all my soul unquelledAdown the gulf betrayedDives, to the quest impelledOf some elusive shade.

The siren fitfullyDisplays her body's gleam,Her breast and arms that plyThrough waves of amorous dream.

The water heaves and falls,Like breasts with passion's breath.The breeze insistent callsTo me, and murmureth:

"Come to my pearly bed!My ocean arms shall slipAbout thee: salt shall spreadTo honey on thy lip!

Oh, let the billows linkAbove us! Thou shalt, warm,From cup of kisses drinkOblivion of the storm!"

Thus sighs the glance that sweepsFrom out those sea-blue gates,Till heart down treacherous deepsThe hymen consummates.

Words in this poem 16

merge v. t.: To cause to be swallowed up; to immerse; to sink; to absorb. [L. mergere, mersum. Cf. Emerge, Immerse, Marrow.]
glaucous a.: Of a sea-green color; of a dull green passing into grayish blue.
sadness n.: Heaviness; firmness.
weedy a.: Of or pertaining to weeds; consisting of weeds.
swirl v. t.: To whirl, or cause to whirl, as in an eddy. [Akin to Norw. svirla to whirl, freq. of sverra to whirl, Dan. svirre, G. schwirren to whiz, to buzz. *177. See Swarm, n.]
solomon n.: One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.
venturer n.: One who ventures, or puts to hazard; an adventurer. Beau. & Fl.
adown adv.: From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
dives n.: The name popularly given to the rich man in our Lord's parable of the [L., rich.]
elusive a.: Tending to elude; using arts or deception to escape; adroitly escaping or evading; eluding the grasp; fallacious.
heaves n.: A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
insistent a.: Standing or resting on something; as, an insistent wall. Sir H. [L. insistens, -entis, p. pr. of insistere.]
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,]
shalt: 2d per. sing. of Shall.
oblivion n.: The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
hymen n.: A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Eyes of Blue 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, Eyes of Blue, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/eyes-of-blue.html, id L26998.

Form and metre

Eyes of Blue is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).

See other poems in iambic trimeter.

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 sweet^A · soul^B · fleet^A · roll^B
2 ABAB note^A · blue^B · remote^A · hue^B
3 AAAA set^A · infinite^A · wet^A · light^A
4 ABAB aloft^A · free^B · soft^A · sea^B
5 ABAB drowned^A · up^B · profound^A · cup^B
6 ABAB swirl^A · upon^B · pearl^A · solomon^B
7 ABAB cast^A · us^B · fast^A · luminous^B
8 ABAB gaze^A · venturer^B · ways^A · haarfager^B
9 ABAB unquelled^A · betrayed^B · impelled^A · shade^B
10 -A-A fitfully · gleam^A · ply · dream^A
11 ABAB falls^A · breath^B · calls^A · murmureth^B
12 ABAB bed^A · slip^B · spread^A · lip^B
13 ABAB link^A · warm^B · drink^A · storm^B
14 ABAB sweeps^A · gates^B · deeps^A · consummates^B

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 trimeter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
A woman, mystic, sweet,	6	·/˘/˘·
Whose beauty draws my soul,	6	·/˘···
Stands silent where the fleet	6	·/˘···
And singing waters roll.	6	·/˘/˘·
Her eyes, the mirrored note	6	···/˘·
Of heaven, merge heaven's blue	6	·/·/˘·
Bestarred of lights remote,	6	····˘/
With the sea's glaucous hue.	6	···/˘·
Within their languor set,	6	···/˘·
Smiles sadness infinite.	6	·/˘/˘˘
Tears make the sparkles wet,	6	···/˘·
And tender grows the light.	6	·/˘···
Like sea-gulls from aloft	6	····˘/
That graze the ocean free,	6	···/˘·
Her lashes flutter soft	6	·/˘/˘·
Upon an azure sea.	6	···/˘·
As slumbering treasures drowned	6	·/˘/˘·
Send shimmers lightly up,	6	·/˘/˘·
Gleams through the tide profound	6	····˘/
The King of Thule's cup.	5	·····
Athwart the weedy swirl	6	˘/·/˘·
Brilliant, the waves upon,	6	/˘····
Shine Cleopatra's pearl,	6	··˘/˘·
And ring of Solomon.	6	···/˘˘
The crown to ocean cast,	6	···/˘·
That Schiller showed to us,	6	·/˘···
Still under sea caught fast,	6	······
Beams clear and luminous.	6	···/˘˘
A magic in that gaze	6	·/˘···
Draws me, mad venturer!	6	···/˘˘
Thus mermaid's magic ways	6	·/·/˘·
Drew Harold Haarfager.	6	·/˘···
And all my soul unquelled	6	······
Adown the gulf betrayed	6	˘/··˘/
Dives, to the quest impelled	6	····˘/
Of some elusive shade.	6	··˘/˘·
The siren fitfully	6	·/˘/˘˘
Displays her body's gleam,	6	˘/·/˘·
Her breast and arms that ply	6	······
Through waves of amorous dream.	6	···/˘·
The water heaves and falls,	6	·/˘···
Like breasts with passion's breath.	6	···/˘·
The breeze insistent calls	6	··˘/˘·
To me, and murmureth:	6	···/˘˘
"Come to my pearly bed!	6	···/˘·
My ocean arms shall slip	6	·/˘···
About thee: salt shall spread	6	······
To honey on thy lip!	6	·/˘···
Oh, let the billows link	6	···/˘·
Above us! Thou shalt, warm,	6	······
From cup of kisses drink	6	···/˘·
Oblivion of the storm!"	6	˘/˘···
Thus sighs the glance that sweeps	6	······
From out those sea-blue gates,	6	······
Till heart down treacherous deeps	6	···/˘·
The hymen consummates.	6	·/˘/˘·

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.

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