The Cloud
Lightly in the azure airSoars a cloud, emerging freeLike a virgin from the fairBlue sea;
Or an Aphrodite sweet,Floating upright and empearledIn the shell, about its feetFoam-curled.
Undulating overhead,How its changing body glows!On its shoulder dawn hath spreadA rose.
Marble, snow, blend amorouslyIn that form by sunlight kissed--Slumbering AntiopeOf mist!
Sailing unto distant goal,Over Alps and Apennines,Sister of the woman-soul,It shines;
Till my heart flies forth at lastOn the wings of passion warm,And I yearn to gather fastIts form.
Reason saith: "Mere vapour thing!Bursting bubble! Yet, we deem,Holds this wind-distorted ringOur dream."
Faith declareth: "Beauty seen,Like a cloud, is but a thought,Or a breath, that, having been,Is naught.
"Have thy vision. Build it proud.Let thy soul be full thereof.Love a woman--love a cloud--But love!"
Words in this poem
- aphrodite n.
- The Greek goddess of love, corresponding to the Venus of the Romans.
- amorously adv.
- In an amorous manner; fondly.
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Cloud 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, The Cloud, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/the-cloud.html, id L27029.
Form and metre
The Cloud is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABAB airA · freeB · fairA · seaB
- 2 ABAB sweetA · empearledB · feetA · curledB
- 3 ABAB overheadA · glowsB · spreadA · roseB
- 4 ABAB amorouslyA · kissedB · antiopeA · mistB
- 5 ABAB goalA · apenninesB · soulA · shinesB
- 6 ABAB lastA · warmB · fastA · formB
- 7 ABAB thingA · deemB · ringA · dreamB
- 8 ABAB seenA · thoughtB · beenA · naughtB
- 9 ABAB proudA · thereofB · cloudA · loveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lightly in the azure air | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Soars a cloud, emerging free | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Like a virgin from the fair | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Blue sea; | 2 | ·· |
| Or an Aphrodite sweet, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Floating upright and empearled | 8 | /˘/····˘ |
| In the shell, about its feet | 7 | ······· |
| Foam-curled. | 2 | ·· |
| Undulating overhead, | 7 | /˘·˘/˘/ |
| How its changing body glows! | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| On its shoulder dawn hath spread | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A rose. | 2 | ·· |
| Marble, snow, blend amorously | 8 | /˘··/˘˘˘ |
| In that form by sunlight kissed-- | 8 | ····/··˘ |
| Slumbering Antiope | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| Of mist! | 2 | ·· |
| Sailing unto distant goal, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Over Alps and Apennines, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sister of the woman-soul, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| It shines; | 2 | ·· |
| Till my heart flies forth at last | 7 | ······· |
| On the wings of passion warm, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And I yearn to gather fast | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Its form. | 2 | ·· |
| Reason saith: "Mere vapour thing! | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Bursting bubble! Yet, we deem, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Holds this wind-distorted ring | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Our dream." | 3 | /˘· |
| Faith declareth: "Beauty seen, | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| Like a cloud, is but a thought, | 7 | ······· |
| Or a breath, that, having been, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Is naught. | 2 | ·· |
| "Have thy vision. Build it proud. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Let thy soul be full thereof. | 7 | ······· |
| Love a woman--love a cloud-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But love!" | 2 | ·· |
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.