The Toreador's Serenade: Rondalla
Child with airs imperial,Dove with falcon's eyes for meWhom thou hatest,--come I shallUnderneath thy balcony!
There, my foot upon the stone,I shall twang my chords with grace,Till thy window-pane hath shoneWith thy lamplight and thy face.
Let no lad with his guitarStrum adown the bordering ways.Mine the road to watch and bar,Mine alone to sing thy praise.
Let the first my courage brave.He shall lose his ears, egad!Who shall howl his love and raveIn a couplet good or bad.
Restless doth my dagger lie.Come! who'll venture its rebuff?Who would wear for every sighBlood's red flower upon his ruff?
Blood grows weary of its veins;For it yearns to be displayed.Night is ominous with rains.Haste, ye cowards, back to shade!
On, thou braggart, else aroint!Well thy forearm cover thou.On! and with my dagger's pointLet me write upon thy brow.
Let them come, alone, in mass:Firm of foot I bide my place.For thy glory, as they pass,Would I slit each paltry face.
O'er the gutter ere thy clear,Snowy feet shall be defiled,By the Rood! a bridge I'll rearWith the bones of gallants wild.
I would slay, thy love to wear,Any foe, yea, even proudSatan's very self to dare,So thy sheets became my shroud.
Sightless window, deafened door!Wilt thou never heed my sounds?Like a wounded bull I roar,Maddening the baying hounds.
Drive at least a poor nail then,Where my heart may hang inert.For I want it not again,With its madness and its hurt!
Words in this poem
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- lamplight n.
- Light from a lamp.
- strum v. t.
- To play on an instrument of music, or as on an instrument, in an unskillful or noisy way; to thrum; as, to strum a piano. [Probably of imitative origin. Cf. Thrum.]
- adown adv.
- From a higher to a lower situation; downward; down, to or on the ground. [OE. adun, adoun, adune. AS. of dune off the hill. See Down.]
- egad interj.
- An exclamation expressing exultation or surprise, etc. [Euphemistic corruption of the oath, "by God."]
- couplet n.
- Two taken together; a pair or couple; especially two lines of verse that rhyme with each other. [F. couplet, dim. of couple. See Couple, n.]
- rebuff n.
- Repercussion, or beating back; a quick and sudden resistance. [It. ribuffo, akin to ribuffare to repulse; pref. ri- (L. re-) + buffo puff. Cf. Buff to strike, Buffet a blow.]
- aroint interj.
- Stand off, or begone. [Cf. Prov. E. rynt, rynt thee, roynt, or runt, terms used by milkmaids to a cow that has been milked, in order to drive her away, to make room for others; AS. r ]
- bide v. i.
- To dwell; to inhabit; to abide; to stay. [OE. biden, AS. bidan; akin to OHG. bitan, Goth. beidan, Icel. bi; perh. orig., to wait with trust, and akin to bid. See Bid, v. t., and cf. Abide.]
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- rood n.
- A representation in sculpture or in painting of the cross with Christ hanging on it. [AS. rr, D. roede rod, G. ruthe, rute, OHG. ruota. CF. Rod a measure.]
- sightless a.
- Wanting sight; without sight; blind.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Toreador's Serenade: Rondalla 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 Toreador's Serenade: Rondalla, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/the-toreador-s-serenade-rondalla.html, id L26999.
Form and metre
The Toreador's Serenade: Rondalla is 48 lines in 12 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 imperialA · meB · shallA · balconyB
- 2 ABAB stoneA · graceB · shoneA · faceB
- 3 ABAB guitarA · waysB · barA · praiseB
- 4 ABAB braveA · egadB · raveA · badB
- 5 ABAB lieA · rebuffB · sighA · ruffB
- 6 ABAB veinsA · displayedB · rainsA · shadeB
- 7 ABAB arointA · thouB · pointA · browB
- 8 ABAB massA · placeB · passA · faceB
- 9 ABAB clearA · defiledB · rearA · wildB
- 10 ABAB wearA · proudB · dareA · shroudB
- 11 ABAB doorA · soundsB · roarA · houndsB
- 12 ABAB thenA · inertB · againA · hurtB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Child with airs imperial, | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| Dove with falcon's eyes for me | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Whom thou hatest,--come I shall | 7 | ······· |
| Underneath thy balcony! | 7 | ·˘/·/˘˘ |
| There, my foot upon the stone, | 7 | ······· |
| I shall twang my chords with grace, | 7 | ······· |
| Till thy window-pane hath shone | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With thy lamplight and thy face. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Let no lad with his guitar | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Strum adown the bordering ways. | 8 | ·˘/·/˘˘· |
| Mine the road to watch and bar, | 7 | ······· |
| Mine alone to sing thy praise. | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Let the first my courage brave. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| He shall lose his ears, egad! | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Who shall howl his love and rave | 7 | ······· |
| In a couplet good or bad. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Restless doth my dagger lie. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Come! who'll venture its rebuff? | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Who would wear for every sigh | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Blood's red flower upon his ruff? | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Blood grows weary of its veins; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For it yearns to be displayed. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Night is ominous with rains. | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Haste, ye cowards, back to shade! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| On, thou braggart, else aroint! | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Well thy forearm cover thou. | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| On! and with my dagger's point | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Let me write upon thy brow. | 7 | ······· |
| Let them come, alone, in mass: | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Firm of foot I bide my place. | 7 | ······· |
| For thy glory, as they pass, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Would I slit each paltry face. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| O'er the gutter ere thy clear, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Snowy feet shall be defiled, | 8 | /˘·····˘ |
| By the Rood! a bridge I'll rear | 7 | ······· |
| With the bones of gallants wild. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I would slay, thy love to wear, | 7 | ······· |
| Any foe, yea, even proud | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Satan's very self to dare, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| So thy sheets became my shroud. | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Sightless window, deafened door! | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Wilt thou never heed my sounds? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Like a wounded bull I roar, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Maddening the baying hounds. | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| Drive at least a poor nail then, | 7 | ······· |
| Where my heart may hang inert. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| For I want it not again, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| With its madness and its hurt! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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