Laurel · Théophile Gautier · Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

Veterans of the Old Guard

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

iambic tetrameter · ABAB · 100 lines · from Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

Driven by ennui from my room,I walked along the Boulevard.'Twas in December's mist and gloom.A bitter wind was blowing hard.

And there I saw--strange thing to see!--In drizzle and in daylight drear,From out their dark abodes let free,Dim, spectral shadow-shapes appear.

Yet 't is by night's uncanny hours,By pallid German moonbeams castOn old dilapidated towers,That ghosts are wont to wander past.

It is by night's effulgent starIn dripping robes that elves intrigueTo bear beneath the nenupharTheir dancer dead of his fatigue.

At night's mysterious tide hath beenThe great review--of ballad writs--Wherein the Emperor, dimly seen,Numbered the shades of Austerlitz.

But phantoms near the Gymnase?--yea,And wet and miry phantoms, too,And close to the Varietes,And not a shroud to trick the view!

With yellow teeth and stained dress,And mossy skull and pierced shoon,Paris--Montmartre--behold it press,--Death in the very light of noon!

Ah, 't is a picture to be seen!Three veteran ghosts in uniformOf the Old Guard, and, spare and lean,Two ghost-hussars in daylight's storm.

The lithograph, you would surmise,Wherein one ray shines down uponThe dead, that Raffet deifies,That pass and shout "Napoleon!"

No dead are these, whom nightly drumMay rouse to battle fires that burn,But stragglers of the Old Guard, comeTo celebrate the grand return!

Since fighting in the fight supreme,One has grown thin, another stout;The coats that fitted once now seemToo small, too loose, or draggled out.

O epic rags! O tatters light,Starred with a cross! Heroic thingsOf ridicule, ye gleam more bright,More beautiful than robes of kings!

Limp feathers fluttering adornThe tawny colbacks worn and grim.The bullet and the moth have tornAnd riddled well the dolmans dim.

Their leathern breeches loosely hangIn furrows on their lank thigh-bones,Their rusty sabres drag and clang,As heavily they scrape the stones.

Or some round belly firm and fat,Squeezed tight in tether labour-donned,Makes mirth and jest to chuckle at--Old hero quaint and cheveroned!

But do not mock and jeer, my lad.Salute him, rather, and, believe,Achilles he, of IliadThat Homer's self could not conceive.

Respect these men with battle signsThat twenty skies have painted brown;Their scars that lengthen out the linesOf wrinkles age has written down;

Their skin whose colour deep and dun,Bared to the fronts of many foes,Tells us of Egypt's burning sun;Their locks that tell of Russia's snows.

And if they shake, no longer strong?Ah! Beresina's wind was cold.And if they limp? The way was long,From Cairo unto Vilna told.

If they be stiff? They'd but a flagFor sheet to hold their bodies warm.And if a sleeve be loose, poor rag?'T is that a bullet tore an arm.

Mock not these veteran shapes bizarre,At whom the urchin laughs and gapes.They were the day, of which we areThe evening, and the night, perhaps,--

Remembering if we forget--Red lancer, grenadier in blue,With faces to the Column set,As to their only altar true.

There, proud of pain each scar denotes,And of long miseries gone by,They feel beneath their shabby coatsThe heart of France beat mightily.

And so our smiles are steeped in tears,Seeing this holy carnival,This picture wan that reappears,Like morning after midnight's ball.

And, cleaving heaven its own to claim,Wide the Grand Army's eagle spreadsIts golden wings, like glory's flame,Above their dear and hallowed heads.

Words in this poem 27

ennui n.: A feeling of weariness and disgust; dullness and languor of spirits, arising from satiety or want of interest; tedium. T. Gray. [F., fr. L. in odio in hatred. See Annoy.]
boulevard n.: Originally, a bulwark or rampart of fortification or fortified town. [F. boulevard, boulevart, fr. G. bollwerk. See Bulwark.]
drizzle v. i.: To rain slightly in very small drops; to fall, as water from the clouds, slowly and in fine particles; as, it drizzles; drizzling drops or rain. [Prop. freq. of AS. dreósan to fall. See Dreary.]
daylight n.: The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
drear n.: Sadness; dismalness.
uncanny a.: Not canny; unsafe; strange; weird; ghostly.
dilapidated a.: Decayed; fallen into partial ruin; injured by bad usage or neglect.
effulgent a.: Diffusing a flood of light; shining; luminous; beaming; bright; splendid. [L. effulgens, -entis, p. pr. of effulgere.]
dripping n.: A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
nenuphar n.: The great white water lily of Europe; the Nymphæa alba. [F. nénufar: cf. Sp. nenúfar, It. nenufár; all fr. Per. nil.]
dimly adv.: In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
ghost n.: The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
lithograph v. t.: To trace on stone by the process of lithography so as to transfer the design to paper by printing; as, to lithograph a design; to lithograph a painting. See Lithography. [Litho- + -graph: cf. F. lithographier.]
napoleon n.: A French gold coin of twenty francs, or about $3.86. [From the Emperor Napoleon 1.]
nightly a.: Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
starred a.: Adorned or studded with stars; bespangled. [From Star.]
leathern a.: Made of leather; consisting of. leather; as, a leathern purse.
clang v. t.: To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
tether n.: A long rope or chain by which an animal is fastened, as to a stake, so that it can range or feed only within certain limits. [Formerly tedder, OE. tedir; akin to LG. tider, tier, Icel. tjo, Dan. töir. *64.]
jest n.: A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
chuckle v. t.: To call, as a hen her chickens; to cluck. [From lst Chuck.]
quaint a.: Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
tore n.: The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
bizarre a.: Odd in manner or appearance; fantastic; whimsical; extravagant; grotesque. C. Kingsley. [F. bizarre odd, fr. Sp. bizarro gallant, brave, liberal, prob. of Basque origin; cf. Basque bizarra beard, whence the meaning manly, brave.]
lancer n.: One who lances; one who carries a lance; especially, a member of a mounted body of men armed with lances, attached to the cavalry service of some nations. Wilhelm. [Cf. F. lancier.]
shabby a.: Torn or worn to rage; poor; mean; ragged. [See Shab, n., Scabby, and Scab.]
mightily adv.: In a mighty manner; with might; with great earnestness; vigorously; powerfully. [From Mighty.]

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

About this text

Veterans of the Old Guard 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, Veterans of the Old Guard, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/veterans-of-the-old-guard.html, id L27002.

Form and metre

Veterans of the Old Guard is 100 lines in 25 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 24 of its 25 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).

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 room^A · boulevard^B · gloom^A · hard^B
2 ABAB see^A · drear^B · free^A · appear^B
3 ABAB hours^A · cast^B · towers^A · past^B
4 ABAB star^A · intrigue^B · nenuphar^A · fatigue^B
5 ABAB been^A · writs^B · seen^A · austerlitz^B
6 ABAB yea^A · too^B · varietes^A · view^B
7 ABAB dress^A · shoon^B · press^A · noon^B
8 ABAB seen^A · uniform^B · lean^A · storm^B
9 ABAB surmise^A · upon^B · deifies^A · napoleon^B
10 ABAB drum^A · burn^B · come^A · return^B
11 ABAB supreme^A · stout^B · seem^A · out^B
12 ABAB light^A · things^B · bright^A · kings^B
13 ABAB adorn^A · grim^B · torn^A · dim^B
14 ABAB hang^A · bones^B · clang^A · stones^B
15 ABAB fat^A · donned^B · at^A · cheveroned^B
16 ABAB lad^A · believe^B · iliad^A · conceive^B
17 ABAB signs^A · brown^B · lines^A · down^B
18 ABAB dun^A · foes^B · sun^A · snows^B
19 ABAB strong^A · cold^B · long^A · told^B
20 ABAB flag^A · warm^B · rag^A · arm^B
21 ABAB bizarre^A · gapes^B · are^A · perhaps^B
22 ABAB forget^A · blue^B · set^A · true^B
23 A-A- denotes^A · by · coats^A · mightily
24 ABAB tears^A · carnival^B · reappears^A · ball^B
25 ABAB claim^A · spreads^B · flame^A · heads^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
Driven by ennui from my room,	8	/·˘/˘···
I walked along the Boulevard.	8	··˘/·/˘·
'Twas in December's mist and gloom.	8	··˘/˘···
A bitter wind was blowing hard.	8	·/˘··/˘·
And there I saw--strange thing to see!--	8	········
In drizzle and in daylight drear,	8	·/˘··/··
From out their dark abodes let free,	8	····˘/··
Dim, spectral shadow-shapes appear.	8	·/˘/··˘/
Yet 't is by night's uncanny hours,	9	·····˘/˘/
By pallid German moonbeams cast	8	·/˘/˘/··
On old dilapidated towers,	9	··˘/˘·˘/˘
That ghosts are wont to wander past.	8	·····/˘·
It is by night's effulgent star	8	····˘/˘·
In dripping robes that elves intrigue	8	·/˘···˘/
To bear beneath the nenuphar	8	·····/˘˘
Their dancer dead of his fatigue.	8	·/˘···˘/
At night's mysterious tide hath been	8	··˘/˘···
The great review--of ballad writs--	8	···/·/˘·
Wherein the Emperor, dimly seen,	8	···/˘/˘·
Numbered the shades of Austerlitz.	8	/˘······
But phantoms near the Gymnase?--yea,	8	·/˘·····
And wet and miry phantoms, too,	8	···/˘/˘·
And close to the Varietes,	6	······
And not a shroud to trick the view!	8	········
With yellow teeth and stained dress,	8	·/˘···˘·
And mossy skull and pierced shoon,	8	·/˘···˘·
Paris--Montmartre--behold it press,--	8	/˘··˘/··
Death in the very light of noon!	8	···/˘···
Ah, 't is a picture to be seen!	9	····/˘···
Three veteran ghosts in uniform	8	·/˘··/˘·
Of the Old Guard, and, spare and lean,	8	········
Two ghost-hussars in daylight's storm.	8	··/˘·/··
The lithograph, you would surmise,	8	·/˘···˘/
Wherein one ray shines down upon	8	········
The dead, that Raffet deifies,	8	·····/˘·
That pass and shout "Napoleon!"	8	····˘/˘˘
No dead are these, whom nightly drum	8	·····/˘·
May rouse to battle fires that burn,	8	···/˘/··
But stragglers of the Old Guard, come	8	·/˘·····
To celebrate the grand return!	8	·/˘···˘/
Since fighting in the fight supreme,	8	·/˘···˘/
One has grown thin, another stout;	8	····˘/˘·
The coats that fitted once now seem	8	···/˘···
Too small, too loose, or draggled out.	8	······˘·
O epic rags! O tatters light,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Starred with a cross! Heroic things	8	····˘/˘·
Of ridicule, ye gleam more bright,	8	·/˘·····
More beautiful than robes of kings!	8	·/˘˘····
Limp feathers fluttering adorn	8	·/˘/˘˘˘/
The tawny colbacks worn and grim.	8	·/˘·····
The bullet and the moth have torn	8	·/˘·····
And riddled well the dolmans dim.	8	·/˘··/˘·
Their leathern breeches loosely hang	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
In furrows on their lank thigh-bones,	8	·/˘·····
Their rusty sabres drag and clang,	8	·/˘/˘···
As heavily they scrape the stones.	8	·/˘˘····
Or some round belly firm and fat,	8	···/˘···
Squeezed tight in tether labour-donned,	8	···/˘/··
Makes mirth and jest to chuckle at--	8	·····/˘·
Old hero quaint and cheveroned!	8	·/˘·····
But do not mock and jeer, my lad.	8	········
Salute him, rather, and, believe,	8	˘/·/˘·˘/
Achilles he, of Iliad	8	˘/˘··/˘˘
That Homer's self could not conceive.	8	·/˘···˘/
Respect these men with battle signs	8	˘/···/˘·
That twenty skies have painted brown;	8	·/˘··/˘·
Their scars that lengthen out the lines	8	···/˘···
Of wrinkles age has written down;	8	·/˘··/˘·
Their skin whose colour deep and dun,	8	···/˘···
Bared to the fronts of many foes,	8	·····/˘·
Tells us of Egypt's burning sun;	8	···/˘/˘·
Their locks that tell of Russia's snows.	8	·····/˘·
And if they shake, no longer strong?	8	·····/˘·
Ah! Beresina's wind was cold.	8	········
And if they limp? The way was long,	8	········
From Cairo unto Vilna told.	8	·/˘·····
If they be stiff? They'd but a flag	8	········
For sheet to hold their bodies warm.	8	·····/˘·
And if a sleeve be loose, poor rag?	8	········
'T is that a bullet tore an arm.	9	····/˘···
Mock not these veteran shapes bizarre,	8	···/˘·˘/
At whom the urchin laughs and gapes.	8	···/˘···
They were the day, of which we are	8	········
The evening, and the night, perhaps,--	8	·/˘···˘/
Remembering if we forget--	8	˘/˘˘··˘/
Red lancer, grenadier in blue,	8	·/˘·····
With faces to the Column set,	8	·/˘··/˘·
As to their only altar true.	8	···/˘/˘·
There, proud of pain each scar denotes,	8	······˘/
And of long miseries gone by,	8	···/˘˘··
They feel beneath their shabby coats	8	·····/˘·
The heart of France beat mightily.	8	·····/˘˘
And so our smiles are steeped in tears,	8	··/·····
Seeing this holy carnival,	8	/˘·/˘/˘˘
This picture wan that reappears,	8	·/˘···˘/
Like morning after midnight's ball.	8	·/˘··/··
And, cleaving heaven its own to claim,	8	·/˘/····
Wide the Grand Army's eagle spreads	8	···/˘/˘·
Its golden wings, like glory's flame,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Above their dear and hallowed heads.	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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