Heart's Diamond
Every lover deep hath setIn a sacred nook apartSome dear token for the heartIn its hope or its regret.
One hath nested safe awayBlackest ringlet ever seen,Over which an azure sheenLieth, as on wing of jay.
One from shoulder pale as milkTook a tress more golden-fineThan the threads that softly shineIn the silk-worm's wonder-silk.
In its hiding mystical,Memory's reliquary sweet,Glances of another greetGloves with fingers white and small.
And another yet may listTo inhale a faint perfumeOf the violets from her room,Freshly given--faded, kissed.
Here a slipper's curving graceOne with sighing treasureth.There another guards a breathIn a mask's light edge of lace.
I've no slipper to revere,Neither glove nor tress nor flower;But I cherish for love's dowerA divine, adored tear,--
Fallen from the blue above,Clearest dew, heaven's drop for me,Pearl dissolved secretlyIn the chalice of my love.
To mine eyes the dim-worn dewBeams, a gem of Orient worth,Standing from the parchment forth,Diamond of a sapphire blue,--
Steadfast, lustreful and deep!Tear that fell unhoped, unsought,On a song my soul once wrought,From an eye unused to weep.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- ringlet n.
- A small ring; a small circle; specifically, a fairy ring. [Ring + -let.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- tress n.
- A braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet. [OE. tresse, OF. trece, F. tresse, LL. tricia, fr. Gr. tri`cha threefold, because a tress is usually formed by interlacing three pieces; akin to trei^s three. Se]
- reliquary n.
- A depositary, often a small box or casket, in which relics are kept. [LL.reliquiarium, reliquiare: cf. F. reliquaire. See Relic.]
- revere v. t.
- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. [L. revereri; pref. re- re- + vereri to fear, perh. akin to E. wary: cf. F. révérer.]
- chalice n.
- A cup or bowl; especially, the cup used in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. [OR. chalis, calice, OF. chalice, calice, F. calice, fr. L. calix, akin to Gr. helmet. Cf. Calice, Calyx.]
- unhoped a.
- Not hoped or expected.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Heart's Diamond 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, Heart's Diamond, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/heart-s-diamond.html, id L26995.
Form and metre
Heart's Diamond is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 9 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABBA setA · apartB · heartB · regretA
- 2 ABBA awayA · seenB · sheenB · jayA
- 3 ABBA milkA · fineB · shineB · silkA
- 4 ABBA mysticalA · sweetB · greetB · smallA
- 5 ABBA listA · perfumeB · roomB · kissedA
- 6 ABBA graceA · treasurethB · breathB · laceA
- 7 A--A revereA · flower · dower · tearA
- 8 ABBA aboveA · meB · secretlyB · loveA
- 9 ABBA dewA · worthB · forthB · blueA
- 10 ABBA deepA · unsoughtB · wroughtB · weepA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Every lover deep hath set | 8 | /˘˘/˘··· |
| In a sacred nook apart | 8 | ··/˘˘·˘/ |
| Some dear token for the heart | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In its hope or its regret. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| One hath nested safe away | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Blackest ringlet ever seen, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Over which an azure sheen | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lieth, as on wing of jay. | 6 | ······ |
| One from shoulder pale as milk | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Took a tress more golden-fine | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Than the threads that softly shine | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In the silk-worm's wonder-silk. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| In its hiding mystical, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Memory's reliquary sweet, | 8 | /˘˘/˘˘˘· |
| Glances of another greet | 7 | /˘·˘/˘· |
| Gloves with fingers white and small. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And another yet may list | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| To inhale a faint perfume | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| Of the violets from her room, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Freshly given--faded, kissed. | 8 | /˘/˘/˘·˘ |
| Here a slipper's curving grace | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| One with sighing treasureth. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| There another guards a breath | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| In a mask's light edge of lace. | 7 | ······· |
| I've no slipper to revere, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Neither glove nor tress nor flower; | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| But I cherish for love's dower | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A divine, adored tear,-- | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| Fallen from the blue above, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Clearest dew, heaven's drop for me, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Pearl dissolved secretly | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘˘ |
| In the chalice of my love. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To mine eyes the dim-worn dew | 7 | ······· |
| Beams, a gem of Orient worth, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Standing from the parchment forth, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Diamond of a sapphire blue,-- | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Steadfast, lustreful and deep! | 7 | /······ |
| Tear that fell unhoped, unsought, | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| On a song my soul once wrought, | 7 | ······· |
| From an eye unused to weep. | 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.