Preface
When empires lay riven apart,Fared Goethe at battle time's thunderTo fragrant oases of art,To weave his Divan into wonder.
Leaving Shakespeare, he pondered the noteOf Nisami, and heard in his leisureThe hoopoe's weird monody float,And set it to soft Orient measure.
As Goethe at Weimar delayedAnd dreamed in the fair garden closes,And, questing in sun or in shade,With Hafiz plucked redolent roses,--
I, closed from the tempest that shookMy window with fury impassioned,Sat dreaming, and, safe in my nook,Enamels and Cameos fashioned.
Words in this poem
- divan n.
- A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] [Per. diwan a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwan, F. divan.]
- monody n.
- A species of poem of a mournful character, in which a single mourner expresses lamentation; a song for one voice. [L. monodia, Gr. monodie. See Ode.]
- redolent a.
- Diffusing odor or fragrance; spreading sweet scent; scented; odorous; smelling; -- usually followed by of. [L. redolens, -entis, p. pr. of redolere to emit a scent, diffuse an odor; pref. red-, re-, re- + olere to emit a smell. See Odor.]
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- impassioned p. p.
- Actuated or characterized by passion or zeal; showing warmth of feeling; ardent; animated; excited; as, an impassioned orator or discourse.
- 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
Preface 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, Preface, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/preface.html, id L26984.
Form and metre
Preface is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 apartA · thunderB · artA · wonderB
- 2 ABAB noteA · leisureB · floatA · measureB
- 3 ABAB delayedA · closesB · shadeA · rosesB
- 4 ABAB shookA · impassionedB · nookA · fashionedB
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When empires lay riven apart, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| Fared Goethe at battle time's thunder | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| To fragrant oases of art, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| To weave his Divan into wonder. | 9 | ···˘/··/˘ |
| Leaving Shakespeare, he pondered the note | 9 | /˘/··/˘·· |
| Of Nisami, and heard in his leisure | 10 | ········/˘ |
| The hoopoe's weird monody float, | 8 | ·/··/˘˘· |
| And set it to soft Orient measure. | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| As Goethe at Weimar delayed | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| And dreamed in the fair garden closes, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And, questing in sun or in shade, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With Hafiz plucked redolent roses,-- | 9 | ····/˘˘/˘ |
| I, closed from the tempest that shook | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| My window with fury impassioned, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| Sat dreaming, and, safe in my nook, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Enamels and Cameos fashioned. | 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.