Laurel · Théophile Gautier · Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

Winter Fantasies

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

trochaic tetrameter · ABAB · 60 lines · from Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems

Red of nose and white of face,Bent his desk of ice before,Winter doth his theme retraceIn the season's quatuor,--

Beating measure and the groundWith a frozen foot for us,Singing with uncertain soundOlden tunes and tremulous.

And as Haendel's wig sublimeTrembling shook its powder, oftFlutter as he taps his timeSnow-flakes in a flurry soft.

In the Tuileries fount the swanMeets the ice, and all the trees,As in land of fairies wan,Arc bedecked with filigrees.

Flowers of frost in vases lowStand unquickened and unstirred,And we trace upon the snowStarred footsteps of a bird.

Where with lightest raiment spanned,Venus was with Phocion met,Now has Winter's hoary handClodion's "Chilly Maiden" set.

Women pass in ermine dress,Sable, too, and miniver,And the shivering goddessesHaste to don the fashion's fur.

Venus of the Brine comes forth,In her hooded mantle's fluff.Flora, blown by breezes North,Hides her fingers in her muff.

And the shepherdesses roundOf Coustou and Coysevox,Finding scarves too light have woundFurs about their throats of snow.

Heavy doth the North bedrapeParis mode from foot to top,As o'er fair Athenian shapeScythian should a bearskin drop.

Over winter's garments meet,Everywhere we see the fur,Flung with Russian pomp, and sweetWith the fragrant vetiver.

Pleasure's laughing glances feastFar amid the statues, whereFrom the bristles of a beastBursts a Venus torso fair!

If you venture hitherward,With a tender veil to cheatGlances over-daring, guardWell your Andalusian feet!

Snow shall fashion like a frameOn your foot's impression rare,Signing with each step your nameOn the carpet soft and vair.

Thus were surly master ledTo the hidden trysting-place,Where his Psyche, faintly red,Were beheld in Love's embrace.

Words in this poem 20

retrace v. t.: To trace back, as a line. [Pref. re- + trace: cf. F. retracer. Cf. Retract.]
quatuor n.: A quartet; -- applied chiefly to instrumental compositions. [F., fr. L. quattuor, quatuor, four. See Quartet.]
olden a.: Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
shook v. t.: To pack, as staves, in a shook.
flurry n.: A sudden and brief blast or gust; a light, temporary breeze; as, a flurry of wind. [Prov. E. flur to ruffle.]
starred a.: Adorned or studded with stars; bespangled. [From Star.]
hoary a.: White or whitish."The hoary willows."
sable n.: A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
miniver n.: A fur esteemed in the Middle Ages as a part of costume. It is uncertain whether it was the fur of one animal only or of different animals. [See Meniver.]
fluff n.: Nap or down; flue; soft, downy feathers.
flora n.: The goddess of flowers and spring. [L., the goddess of flowers, from flos, floris, flower. See Flower.]
muff n.: A soft cover of cylindrical form, usually of fur, worn by women to shield the hands from cold. [Cf. LG. muff, D. mof, G., Dan., & Sw. muff, F. moufle mitten, LL. muffula, MHG. mouwe sleeve, D. mouw, and E. muffle, v.]
bearskin n.: The skin of a bear.
vetiver n.: An East Indian grass (Andropogon muricatus); also, its fragrant roots which are much used for making mats and screens. Also called kuskus, and khuskhus. [Sometimes written vetivert, and vitivert.]
amid prep.: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
torso n.: The human body, as distinguished from the head and limbs; in sculpture, the trunk of a statue, mutilated of head and limbs; as, the torso of Hercules. [It. torso, probably fr. L. thyrsus a stalk, stem, thyrsus, Gr. torso, turso, a stalk, stem, G. dorsche a cabbage stalk. Cf. Thyrsus, Truss.]
hitherward adv.: Toward this place; hither. [AS. hiderweard.]
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,]
surly a.: Arrogant; haughty. Cotgrave. [Probably from sir, and originally meaning, sirlike, i.e., proud. See Sir, and Like, a.]
psyche n.: A lovely maiden, daughter of a king and mistress of Eros, or Cupid. She is regarded as the personification of the soul.

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

About this text

Winter Fantasies 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, Winter Fantasies, in Enamels and Cameos and Other Poems (1903), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29521, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gautier-enamels-cameos/winter-fantasies.html, id L27012.

Form and metre

Winter Fantasies is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 14 of its 15 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).

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 face^A · before^B · retrace^A · quatuor^B
2 ABAB ground^A · us^B · sound^A · tremulous^B
3 ABAB sublime^A · oft^B · time^A · soft^B
4 ABAB swan^A · trees^B · wan^A · filigrees^B
5 ABAB low^A · unstirred^B · snow^A · bird^B
6 ABAB spanned^A · met^B · hand^A · set^B
8 ABAB forth^A · fluff^B · north^A · muff^B
9 ABAB round^A · coysevox^B · wound^A · snow^B
10 ABAB bedrape^A · top^B · shape^A · drop^B
11 ABAB meet^A · fur^B · sweet^A · vetiver^B
12 ABAB feast^A · where^B · beast^A · fair^B
13 ABAB hitherward^A · cheat^B · guard^A · feet^B
14 ABAB frame^A · rare^B · name^A · vair^B
15 ABAB led^A · place^B · red^A · embrace^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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Red of nose and white of face,	7	·······
Bent his desk of ice before,	7	·······
Winter doth his theme retrace	7	/˘···˘/
In the season's quatuor,--	7	··/˘/˘˘
Beating measure and the ground	7	/˘/˘···
With a frozen foot for us,	7	··/˘···
Singing with uncertain sound	7	/˘·˘/˘·
Olden tunes and tremulous.	7	/˘··/˘˘
And as Haendel's wig sublime	7	·····˘/
Trembling shook its powder, oft	8	/˘˘··/˘·
Flutter as he taps his time	7	/˘·····
Snow-flakes in a flurry soft.	7	····/˘·
In the Tuileries fount the swan	7	·······
Meets the ice, and all the trees,	7	·······
As in land of fairies wan,	7	····/˘·
Arc bedecked with filigrees.	8	·˘/˘·/˘·
Flowers of frost in vases low	8	/˘···/˘·
Stand unquickened and unstirred,	8	····˘···
And we trace upon the snow	7	·······
Starred footsteps of a bird.	7	·˘/····
Where with lightest raiment spanned,	8	··/˘/˘·˘
Venus was with Phocion met,	7	/˘·····
Now has Winter's hoary hand	7	··/˘/˘·
Clodion's "Chilly Maiden" set.	7	··/˘/˘·
Women pass in ermine dress,	7	/˘··/˘·
Sable, too, and miniver,	7	/˘··/˘˘
And the shivering goddesses	8	··/˘˘/˘˘
Haste to don the fashion's fur.	7	····/˘·
Venus of the Brine comes forth,	7	/˘·····
In her hooded mantle's fluff.	7	··/˘/˘·
Flora, blown by breezes North,	7	/˘··/˘·
Hides her fingers in her muff.	7	··/˘···
And the shepherdesses round	7	·······
Of Coustou and Coysevox,	7	·······
Finding scarves too light have wound	7	/˘·····
Furs about their throats of snow.	7	·······
Heavy doth the North bedrape	7	/˘·····
Paris mode from foot to top,	7	/˘·····
As o'er fair Athenian shape	8	···˘/˘˘·
Scythian should a bearskin drop.	8	/˘˘··/˘·
Over winter's garments meet,	7	··/˘/˘·
Everywhere we see the fur,	7	/˘·····
Flung with Russian pomp, and sweet	7	··/˘···
With the fragrant vetiver.	7	··/˘/˘˘
Pleasure's laughing glances feast	7	/˘/˘/˘·
Far amid the statues, where	7	·˘/·/··
From the bristles of a beast	7	··/˘···
Bursts a Venus torso fair!	7	··/˘/··
If you venture hitherward,	7	··/˘/˘˘
With a tender veil to cheat	7	··/˘···
Glances over-daring, guard	7	/˘··/˘·
Well your Andalusian feet!	7	···˘/˘·
Snow shall fashion like a frame	7	··/˘···
On your foot's impression rare,	7	···˘/˘·
Signing with each step your name	7	/˘·····
On the carpet soft and vair.	7	··/˘···
Thus were surly master led	7	··/˘/˘·
To the hidden trysting-place,	7	··/˘/˘·
Where his Psyche, faintly red,	7	··/˘/˘·
Were beheld in Love's embrace.	7	·˘/··˘/

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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