Laurel · Théophile Gautier · Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

Tombs and Funeral Pyres

Théophile Gautier (1811–1872), translated by Agnes Lee · 1903

iambic tetrameter · ABAB · 108 lines · from Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

No grim cadaver set its flawIn happy days of pagan art,And man, content with what he saw,Stripped not the veil from beauty's heart.

No form once loved that buried lay,A hideous spectre to appal,Dropped bit by bit its flesh away,As one by one our garments fall;

Or, when the days had drifted byAnd sundered shrank the vaulted stones,Showed naked to the daring eyeA motley heap of rattling bones.

But, rescued from the funeral pyre,Life's ashen, light residuumLay soft, and, spent the cleansing fire,The urn held sweet the body's sum,--

The sum of all that earth may claimOf the soul's butterfly, soul passed,--All that is left of spended flameUpon the tripod at the last.

Between acanthus leaves and flowersIn the white marble gaily wentLoves and bacchantes all the hours,Dancing about the monument.

At most, a little Genius wildTrampled a flame out in the gloom,And art's harmonious flowering smiledUpon the sadness of the tomb.

The tomb was then a pleasant place.As bed of child that slumbereth,With many a fair and laughing graceThe joy of life surrounded death.

Then death concealed its visage gaunt,Whose sockets deep, and sunken nose,And railing mouth our spirits haunt,Past any dream that horror shows.

The monster in flesh raiment cladHid deep its spectral form uncouth,And virgin glances, beauty-glad,Sped frankly to the naked youth.

Twas only at Trimalchio's boardA little skeleton made sign,An ivory plaything unabhorred,To bid the feasters to the wine.

Gods, whom Art ever must avow,Ruled the marmoreal sky's demesne.Olympus yields to Calvary, now;Jupiter to the Nazarene!

Voices are calling, "Pan is dead!"Dusk deepeneth within, without.On the black sheet of sorrow spread,The whitened skeleton gleams out.

It glideth to the headstone bare,And signs it with a paraph wild,And hangs a wreath of bones to glareUpon the charnel death-defiled.

It lifts the coffin-lid and quaffsThe musty air, and peers within,Displays a ring of ribs, and laughsForever with its awful grin.

It urges unto Death's fleet danceThe Emperor, the Pope, the King,And makes the pallid steed to prance,And low the doughty warrior fling;--

Behind the courtesan steals up,And makes wry faces in her glass;Drinks from the sick man's trembling cup;Delves in the miser's golden mass.

Above the team it whirls the thong,With bone for goad to hurry it,Follows the plowman's way along,And guides the furrows to a pit.

It comes, the uninvited guest,And lurks beneath the banquet chair,Unseen from the pale bride to wrestHer little silken garter fair.

The number swells: the young give handUnto the old, and none may flee.The irresistible sarabandCompelleth all humanity.

Forth speeds the tall, ungainly fright,Playing the rebeck, dancing mad,Against the dark a frame of white,As Holbein drew it--horror-sad;--

Or if the times be frivolous,Trusses the shroud about its hips:Then like a Cupid mischievous,Across the ballet-room it skips,

And unto carven tombs it flies,Where marchionesses rest demure,Weary of love, in exquisite guise,In chapels dim and pompadour.

But hide thy hideous form at last,Worm-eaten actor! Long enoughIn death's wan melodrama cast,Thou'st played thy part without rebuff.

Come back, come back, O ancient Art!And cover with thy marble's gleamThis Gothic skeleton! Each partConsume, ye flames of fire supreme!

If man be then a creature madeIn God's own image, to aspire,When shattered must the image fade,Let the lone fragments feed the fire!

Immortal form! Rise thou in flameAgain to beauty's fount of bloomLet not thy clay endure the shame,The degradation of the tomb!

Words in this poem 36

cadaver n.: A dead human body; a corpse. [L., fr cadere to fall.]
spectre n.: Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
pyre n.: A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt. [L. pure, Gr. Fire.]
ashen a.: Of or pertaining to the ash tree. [See Ash, the tree.]
residuum n.: That which is left after any process of separation or purification; that which remains after certain specified deductions are made; residue. [L. See Residue.]
tripod n.: Any utensil or vessel, as a stool, table, altar, caldron, etc., supported on three feet. [L. tripus, -odis, Gr. Tri-) + Foot, and cf. Tripos, Trivet.]
acanthus n.: A genus of herbaceous prickly plants, found in the south of Europe, Asia Minor, and India; bear's-breech. [L., from Gr. Acantha.]
gaily adv.: Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
sadness n.: Heaviness; firmness.
visage n.: The face, countenance, or look of a person or an animal; -- chiefly applied to the human face. [F. visage, from L. visus a seeing, a look, fr. videre, visum, to see. See Vision.]
gaunt a.: Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
clad v.: To clothe. Holland.
frankly adv.: In a frank manner; freely.
plaything n.: A thing to play with; a toy; anything that serves to amuse.
avow v. t.: To bind, or to devote, by a vow. Wyclif. [OF. avouer, fr. LL. votare to vow, fr. L. votun. See Vote, n.]
marmoreal a.: Pertaining to, or resembling, marble; made of marble. [L. marmoreus, fr. marmor marble: cf. F. marmoréen. See Marble.]
calvary n.: The place where Christ was crucified, on a small hill outside of Jerusalem. Luke xxiii. 33. [L. calvaria a bare skull, fr. calva the scalp without hair. fr. calvus bald; cf. F. calvaire.]
nazarene n.: A native or inhabitant of Nazareth; -- a term of contempt applied to Christ and the early Christians.
headstone n.: The principal stone in a foundation; the chief or corner stone.
paraph n.: A flourish made with the pen at the end of a signature. In the Middle Ages, this formed a sort of rude safeguard against forgery. [F. paraphe, parafe, contr. fr. paragraphe.]
glare v. i.: To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
grin n.: A snare; a gin. [AS. grin.]
steed n.: A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
doughty a.: Able; strong; valiant; redoubtable; as, a doughty hero.
courtesan n.: A woman who prostitutes herself for hire; a prostitute; a harlot. [F. courtisane, fr. courtisan courtier, It. cortigiano; or directly fr. It. cortigiana, or Sp. cortesana. See Court.]
unseen a.: Not seen or discovered.
garter n.: A band used to prevent a stocking from slipping down on the leg. [OE. gartier, F. jarretière, fr. OF. garet bend of the knee, F. jarret; akin to Sp. garra claw, Prov. garra leg. See Garrote.]
saraband n.: A slow Spanish dance of Saracenic origin, to an air in triple time; also, the air itself. [F. sarabande, Sp. zarabanda, fr. Per. serbend a song.]
cupid: The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
ballet n.: An artistic dance performed as a theatrical entertainment, or an interlude, by a number of persons, usually women. Sometimes, a scene accompanied by pantomime and dancing. [F., a dim. of bal dance. See 2d Ball, n.]
carven a.: Wrought by carving; ornamented by carvings; carved.
demure v. i.: To look demurely.
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.]
aspire v. t.: To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
lone n.: A lane. See Loanin.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Tombs and Funeral Pyres 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, Tombs and Funeral Pyres, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/tombs-and-funeral-pyres.html, id L27014.

Form and metre

Tombs and Funeral Pyres is 108 lines in 27 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).

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 flaw^A · art^B · saw^A · heart^B
2 ABAB lay^A · appal^B · away^A · fall^B
3 ABAB by^A · stones^B · eye^A · bones^B
4 ABAB pyre^A · residuum^B · fire^A · sum^B
5 ABAB claim^A · passed^B · flame^A · last^B
6 ABAB flowers^A · went^B · hours^A · monument^B
7 ABAB wild^A · gloom^B · smiled^A · tomb^B
8 ABAB place^A · slumbereth^B · grace^A · death^B
9 ABAB gaunt^A · nose^B · haunt^A · shows^B
10 ABAB clad^A · uncouth^B · glad^A · youth^B
11 ABAB board^A · sign^B · unabhorred^A · wine^B
12 ABAB avow^A · demesne^B · now^A · nazarene^B
13 ABAB dead^A · without^B · spread^A · out^B
14 ABAB bare^A · wild^B · glare^A · defiled^B
15 ABAB quaffs^A · within^B · laughs^A · grin^B
16 ABAB dance^A · king^B · prance^A · fling^B
17 ABAB up^A · glass^B · cup^A · mass^B
18 ABAB thong^A · it^B · along^A · pit^B
19 ABAB guest^A · chair^B · wrest^A · fair^B
20 ABAB hand^A · flee^B · saraband^A · humanity^B
21 ABAB fright^A · mad^B · white^A · sad^B
22 ABAB frivolous^A · hips^B · mischievous^A · skips^B
23 ABAB flies^A · demure^B · guise^A · pompadour^B
24 ABAB last^A · enough^B · cast^A · rebuff^B
25 ABAB art^A · gleam^B · part^A · supreme^B
26 ABAB made^A · aspire^B · fade^A · fire^B
27 ABAB flame^A · bloom^B · shame^A · tomb^B

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
No grim cadaver set its flaw	8	··˘/˘···
In happy days of pagan art,	8	·/˘··/˘·
And man, content with what he saw,	8	··/˘····
Stripped not the veil from beauty's heart.	8	·····/˘·
No form once loved that buried lay,	8	·····/˘·
A hideous spectre to appal,	8	·/˘/˘···
Dropped bit by bit its flesh away,	8	······˘/
As one by one our garments fall;	8	····//˘·
Or, when the days had drifted by	8	·····/˘·
And sundered shrank the vaulted stones,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Showed naked to the daring eye	8	·/˘··/˘·
A motley heap of rattling bones.	8	·/˘··/˘·
But, rescued from the funeral pyre,	8	·/˘··/˘/
Life's ashen, light residuum	8	·/˘·˘/˘˘
Lay soft, and, spent the cleansing fire,	9	·····/˘/˘
The urn held sweet the body's sum,--	8	·····/˘·
The sum of all that earth may claim	8	········
Of the soul's butterfly, soul passed,--	8	···/˘···
All that is left of spended flame	8	·····/˘·
Upon the tripod at the last.	8	···/····
Between acanthus leaves and flowers	9	··˘/˘··/˘
In the white marble gaily went	8	···/˘/˘·
Loves and bacchantes all the hours,	8	······/˘
Dancing about the monument.	8	/˘···/˘˘
At most, a little Genius wild	8	···/˘/˘·
Trampled a flame out in the gloom,	8	/˘······
And art's harmonious flowering smiled	8	··˘/˘/˘·
Upon the sadness of the tomb.	8	···/˘···
The tomb was then a pleasant place.	8	·····/˘·
As bed of child that slumbereth,	8	·····/˘˘
With many a fair and laughing grace	8	·/···/˘·
The joy of life surrounded death.	8	····˘/˘·
Then death concealed its visage gaunt,	8	··˘/·/˘·
Whose sockets deep, and sunken nose,	8	·/˘··/˘·
And railing mouth our spirits haunt,	8	·/˘·//˘·
Past any dream that horror shows.	8	·/˘··/˘·
The monster in flesh raiment clad	8	·/˘··/˘·
Hid deep its spectral form uncouth,	8	···/˘·//
And virgin glances, beauty-glad,	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
Sped frankly to the naked youth.	8	·/˘··/˘·
Twas only at Trimalchio's board	8	·/˘·····
A little skeleton made sign,	8	·/˘/˘˘··
An ivory plaything unabhorred,	8	·/˘/····
To bid the feasters to the wine.	8	···/˘···
Gods, whom Art ever must avow,	8	···/˘·˘/
Ruled the marmoreal sky's demesne.	8	······˘/
Olympus yields to Calvary, now;	8	˘/˘··/˘·
Jupiter to the Nazarene!	8	/˘˘·····
Voices are calling, "Pan is dead!"	8	/˘·/˘···
Dusk deepeneth within, without.	8	·/˘˘····
On the black sheet of sorrow spread,	8	·····/˘·
The whitened skeleton gleams out.	8	·/˘/˘˘··
It glideth to the headstone bare,	8	·/˘··/··
And signs it with a paraph wild,	8	·····/˘·
And hangs a wreath of bones to glare	8	········
Upon the charnel death-defiled.	8	···/˘···
It lifts the coffin-lid and quaffs	8	···/˘···
The musty air, and peers within,	8	·/˘·····
Displays a ring of ribs, and laughs	8	˘/······
Forever with its awful grin.	8	˘/˘··/˘·
It urges unto Death's fleet dance	8	·/˘·····
The Emperor, the Pope, the King,	8	·/˘˘····
And makes the pallid steed to prance,	8	···/˘···
And low the doughty warrior fling;--	8	···/˘/˘·
Behind the courtesan steals up,	8	···/˘˘··
And makes wry faces in her glass;	8	···/˘···
Drinks from the sick man's trembling cup;	8	·····/˘·
Delves in the miser's golden mass.	8	···/˘/˘·
Above the team it whirls the thong,	8	········
With bone for goad to hurry it,	8	·····/˘·
Follows the plowman's way along,	8	/˘·/˘·˘/
And guides the furrows to a pit.	8	···/˘···
It comes, the uninvited guest,	8	····˘/˘·
And lurks beneath the banquet chair,	8	·····/˘·
Unseen from the pale bride to wrest	8	˘/······
Her little silken garter fair.	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
The number swells: the young give hand	8	·/˘·····
Unto the old, and none may flee.	8	········
The irresistible saraband	9	··˘/˘˘/˘˘
Compelleth all humanity.	8	˘/˘·˘/˘˘
Forth speeds the tall, ungainly fright,	8	····˘/˘·
Playing the rebeck, dancing mad,	8	/˘·/˘/˘·
Against the dark a frame of white,	8	········
As Holbein drew it--horror-sad;--	8	·/˘··/˘·
Or if the times be frivolous,	8	·····/˘˘
Trusses the shroud about its hips:	8	/˘······
Then like a Cupid mischievous,	8	···/˘/˘˘
Across the ballet-room it skips,	8	˘/·˘/···
And unto carven tombs it flies,	8	···/˘···
Where marchionesses rest demure,	8	·/˘˘˘·˘/
Weary of love, in exquisite guise,	8	/˘···/˘·
In chapels dim and pompadour.	8	·/˘··/˘˘
But hide thy hideous form at last,	8	···/˘···
Worm-eaten actor! Long enough	8	·/˘/˘·˘/
In death's wan melodrama cast,	8	···/˘·˘·
Thou'st played thy part without rebuff.	8	······˘/
Come back, come back, O ancient Art!	8	·····/˘·
And cover with thy marble's gleam	8	·/˘··/˘·
This Gothic skeleton! Each part	8	·/˘/˘˘··
Consume, ye flames of fire supreme!	8	˘/···/˘/
If man be then a creature made	8	·····/˘·
In God's own image, to aspire,	8	···/˘·˘/
When shattered must the image fade,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Let the lone fragments feed the fire!	9	···/˘··/˘
Immortal form! Rise thou in flame	8	˘/˘·····
Again to beauty's fount of bloom	8	˘/·/˘···
Let not thy clay endure the shame,	8	····˘/··
The degradation of the tomb!	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.

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