The Garret
From balcony tiles where casual catsSit low in wait for birds unwise,I see the worn and riven slatsOf a poor, humble garret rise.
Now could I as an author lie,To give you comfort as you think,Its window I would falsify,And frame with flowers refined and pink,
And place within it RigoletteWith her cheap looking-glass, somehow,Whose broken glazing mirrors yetA portion of her pretty brow;
Or Margery, her dress undone,Her hair blown free, her tie forgot,Watering in the pleasant sunHer pail-encompassed garden-plot;
Or poet-youth whom fame awaits,Who scans his verse and eyes the hills,Or in a reverie contemplatesMontmartre with its distant mills.
Alas! my garret is no feint.There climbeth no convolvulus.The window with its nibbled paintLeers filmy and unluminous.
Alike for artist and grisette,Alike for widower and lad,A garret--save to music set--Is never otherwise than sad.
Of old, beneath an angle pent,That forced the forehead to a kiss,Love, with a folding-couch content,To chat with Susan deemed it bliss.
But we must wad our bliss aboutWith cushioned walls and laces wide,And silks that flutter in and out,O'er beds by Monbro canopied.
This evening, to Mount Breda fledIs Rigolette, to linger there,And Margery, well clothed and fed,No longer tends her garden fair.
The poet, tired of catching rimesUpon the wing, has turned to cullReporter's bays, and left betimesA heaven for an entresol.
And in the window this is all:An ancient goody chattering,And railing at a kitten smallThat toys forever with a string.
Words in this poem 17
- garret n.
- A turret; a watchtower. [OE. garite, garette, watchtower, place of lookout, OF. garite, also meaning, a place of refuge, F. guérite a place of refuge, donjon, sentinel box, fr. OF. gari]
- falsify v. t.
- To make false; to represent falsely. [L. falsus false + -ly: cf. F. falsifier. See False, a.]
- rigolette n.
- A woman's light scarflike head covering, usually knit or crocheted of wool.
- somehow adv.
- In one way or another; in some way not yet known or designated; by some means; as, the thing must be done somehow; he lives somehow.
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
- reverie n.
- A loose or irregular train of thought occurring in musing or mediation; deep musing; daydream. [F. réverie, fr. rêver to dream, rave, be light-headed. Cf. Rave.]
- feint a.
- Feigned; counterfeit. [F. feint, p.p. of feindre to feign. See Feign.]
- filmy a.
- Composed of film or films.
- artist n.
- One who practices some mechanic art or craft; an artisan. [F. artiste, LL. artista, fr. L. ars. See Art, n., and cf. Artiste.]
- grisette n.
- A French girl or young married woman of the lower class; more frequently, a young working woman who is fond of gallantry. Sterne. [F., fr. grisette a gray woolen cloth, fr. gris gray. Grisettes were so called because they wore gray gowns made of this stuff. See Gars.]
- widower n.
- A man who has lost his wife by death, and has not married again.
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- cull v. t.
- To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cuil flowers. [OE., OF. cuillir, coillir, F.cueillir, to gather, pluck, pick, fr. L. colligere. See Coil, v. t., and cf. Collect.]
- betimes adv.
- In good season or time; before it is late; seasonably; early. [Pref. be- (for by) + time; that is, by the proper time. The -s is an adverbial ending.]
- entresol n.
- A low story between two higher ones, usually between the ground floor and the first story; mezzanine. Parker. [F.]
- goody n.
- A bonbon, cake, or the like; -- usually in the pl.
- chattering n.
- The act or habit of talking idly or rapidly, or of making inarticulate sounds; the sounds so made; noise made by the collision of the teeth; chatter.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Garret 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 Garret, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/the-garret.html, id L27028.
Form and metre
The Garret is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 catsA · unwiseB · slatsA · riseB
- 2 ABAB lieA · thinkB · falsifyA · pinkB
- 3 ABAB rigoletteA · somehowB · yetA · browB
- 4 ABAB undoneA · forgotB · sunA · plotB
- 5 ABAB awaitsA · hillsB · contemplatesA · millsB
- 6 ABAB feintA · convolvulusB · paintA · unluminousB
- 7 ABAB grisetteA · ladB · setA · sadB
- 8 ABAB pentA · kissB · contentA · blissB
- 9 ABAB aboutA · wideB · outA · canopiedB
- 10 ABAB fledA · thereB · fedA · fairB
- 11 ABAB rimesA · cullB · betimesA · entresolB
- 12 ABAB allA · chatteringB · smallA · stringB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From balcony tiles where casual cats | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Sit low in wait for birds unwise, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I see the worn and riven slats | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of a poor, humble garret rise. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Now could I as an author lie, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To give you comfort as you think, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Its window I would falsify, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And frame with flowers refined and pink, | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| And place within it Rigolette | 8 | ········ |
| With her cheap looking-glass, somehow, | 8 | ···/˘·/· |
| Whose broken glazing mirrors yet | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| A portion of her pretty brow; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or Margery, her dress undone, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Her hair blown free, her tie forgot, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Watering in the pleasant sun | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Her pail-encompassed garden-plot; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Or poet-youth whom fame awaits, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Who scans his verse and eyes the hills, | 8 | ········ |
| Or in a reverie contemplates | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Montmartre with its distant mills. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Alas! my garret is no feint. | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| There climbeth no convolvulus. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| The window with its nibbled paint | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Leers filmy and unluminous. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Alike for artist and grisette, | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Alike for widower and lad, | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘·· |
| A garret--save to music set-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is never otherwise than sad. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of old, beneath an angle pent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That forced the forehead to a kiss, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Love, with a folding-couch content, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| To chat with Susan deemed it bliss. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But we must wad our bliss about | 8 | ····/··· |
| With cushioned walls and laces wide, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And silks that flutter in and out, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O'er beds by Monbro canopied. | 7 | ······· |
| This evening, to Mount Breda fled | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Is Rigolette, to linger there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And Margery, well clothed and fed, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| No longer tends her garden fair. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The poet, tired of catching rimes | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Upon the wing, has turned to cull | 8 | ········ |
| Reporter's bays, and left betimes | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| A heaven for an entresol. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And in the window this is all: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| An ancient goody chattering, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| And railing at a kitten small | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That toys forever with a string. | 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.