Song
In April earth is white and roseLike youth and love, now tenderingHer smiles, now fearful to discloseHer virgin heart unto the Spring.
In June, a little pale and worn,And full at heart of vague desire,She hideth in the yellow corn,With sunburned Summer to respire.
In August, wild Bacchante, sheHer bosom bares to Autumn shapes,And on the tiger-skin flung free,Draws forth the purple blood of grapes.
And in December, shrivelled, old,Bepowdered white from foot to head,In dream she wakens Winter cold,That sleeps beside her in her bed.
Words in this poem
- respire v. i.
- To take breath again; hence, to take rest or refreshment. [L. respirare, respiratum; pref. re- re- + spirare to breathe: cf. F. respirer. See Spirit.]
- bacchante n.
- A priestess of Bacchus.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song 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, Song, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/song.html, id L27011.
Form and metre
Song is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 roseA · tenderingB · discloseA · springB
- 2 ABAB wornA · desireB · cornA · respireB
- 3 ABAB sheA · shapesB · freeA · grapesB
- 4 ABAB oldA · headB · coldA · bedB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In April earth is white and rose | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like youth and love, now tendering | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Her smiles, now fearful to disclose | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Her virgin heart unto the Spring. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In June, a little pale and worn, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And full at heart of vague desire, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| She hideth in the yellow corn, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With sunburned Summer to respire. | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| In August, wild Bacchante, she | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Her bosom bares to Autumn shapes, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And on the tiger-skin flung free, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Draws forth the purple blood of grapes. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And in December, shrivelled, old, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Bepowdered white from foot to head, | 8 | ········ |
| In dream she wakens Winter cold, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| That sleeps beside her in her bed. | 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.