Rome the Vatican—Sala Delle Muse
I SAT in the Muses’ Hall at the mid of the day,And it seemed to grow still, and the people to pass away,And the chiselled shapes to combine in a haze of sun,Till beside a Carrara column there gleamed forth One.
She was nor this nor that of those beings divine,But each and the whole—an essence of all the Nine;With tentative foot she neared to my halting-place,A pensive smile on her sweet, small, marvellous face.
“Regarded so long, we render thee sad?” said she.“Not you,” sighed I, “but my own inconstancy!I worship each and each; in the morning one,And then, alas! another at sink of sun.
“To-day my soul clasps Form; but where is my trothOf yesternight with Tune: can one cleave to both?”—“Be not perturbed,” said she. “Though apart in fame,As I and my sisters are one, those, too, are the same.
“And that one is I; and I am projected from thee,One that out of thy brain and heart thou causest to be—Extern to thee nothing. Grieve not, nor thyself becall,Woo where thou wilt; and rejoice thou canst love at all!”
WHO, then, was Cestius,And what is he to me?—Amid thick thoughts and memories multitudinousOne thought alone brings he.
I can recall no wordOf anything he did;For me he is a man who died and was interredTo leave a pyramid
Whose purpose was exprestNot with its first design,Nor till, far down in Time, beside it found their restTwo countrymen of mine.
Cestius in life, maybe,Slew, breathed out threatening;I know not. This I know: in death all silentlyHe does a kindlier thing,
In beckoning pilgrim feetWith marble finger highTo where, by shadowy wall and history-haunted street,Those matchless singers lie . . .
—Say, then, he lived and diedThat stones which bear his nameShould mark, through Time, where two immortal Shades abide;It is an ample fame.
Words in this poem
- tentative a.
- Of or pertaining to a trial or trials; essaying; experimental. [L. tentare to try: cf. F. tentatif. See Tempt.]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- yesternight n.
- The last night; the night last past.
- perturbed a.
- Agitated; disturbed; troubled.
- extern a.
- External; outward; not inherent. [Cf. F. externe. See External.]
- 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]
- multitudinous a.
- Consisting of a multitude; manifold in number or condition; as, multitudinous waves.
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rome the Vatican—Sala Delle Muse is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of the Past and the Present, Project Gutenberg ebook #3168; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hardy, Rome the Vatican—Sala Delle Muse, in Poems of the Past and the Present (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3168, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hardy-past-and-present/rome-the-vatican-sala-delle-muse.html, id L16866.
Form and metre
Rome the Vatican—Sala Delle Muse is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABB, in 4 of the 11 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABB dayA · awayA · sunB · oneB
- 2 AABB divineA · nineA · placeB · faceB
- 3 --AA she · inconstancy · oneA · sunA
- 4 AABB trothA · bothA · fameB · sameB
- 5 AABB theeA · beA · becallB · allB
- 6 -A-A cestius · meA · multitudinous · heA
- 7 A-AA wordA · did · interredA · pyramidA
- 8 ABAB exprestA · designB · restA · mineB
- 9 -A-A maybe · threateningA · silently · thingA
- 10 ABAB feetA · highB · streetA · lieB
- 11 ABAB diedA · nameB · abideA · fameB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I SAT in the Muses’ Hall at the mid of the day, | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| And it seemed to grow still, and the people to pass away, | 14 | ········/˘··˘/ |
| And the chiselled shapes to combine in a haze of sun, | 13 | ··/˘··/˘····· |
| Till beside a Carrara column there gleamed forth One. | 13 | ··/··/˘/˘···· |
| She was nor this nor that of those beings divine, | 12 | ········/˘˘/ |
| But each and the whole—an essence of all the Nine; | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| With tentative foot she neared to my halting-place, | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| A pensive smile on her sweet, small, marvellous face. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| “Regarded so long, we render thee sad?” said she. | 12 | ˘/˘···/˘···· |
| “Not you,” sighed I, “but my own inconstancy! | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| I worship each and each; in the morning one, | 11 | ·/˘·····/˘· |
| And then, alas! another at sink of sun. | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘···· |
| “To-day my soul clasps Form; but where is my troth | 11 | ··········· |
| Of yesternight with Tune: can one cleave to both?” | 11 | ·/˘˘······· |
| —“Be not perturbed,” said she. “Though apart in fame, | 11 | ··˘/···˘/·· |
| As I and my sisters are one, those, too, are the same. | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| “And that one is I; and I am projected from thee, | 13 | ········˘/˘·· |
| One that out of thy brain and heart thou causest to be— | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| Extern to thee nothing. Grieve not, nor thyself becall, | 13 | ˘/··/˘···˘/·· |
| Woo where thou wilt; and rejoice thou canst love at all!” | 12 | ·····˘/····· |
| WHO, then, was Cestius, | 5 | ····· |
| And what is he to me?— | 6 | ······ |
| Amid thick thoughts and memories multitudinous | 12 | ˘/···/˘····· |
| One thought alone brings he. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| I can recall no word | 6 | ··/··· |
| Of anything he did; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For me he is a man who died and was interred | 12 | ···········/ |
| To leave a pyramid | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Whose purpose was exprest | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Not with its first design, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Nor till, far down in Time, beside it found their rest | 12 | ······˘/···· |
| Two countrymen of mine. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Cestius in life, maybe, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Slew, breathed out threatening; | 7 | ··˘·/˘˘ |
| I know not. This I know: in death all silently | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| He does a kindlier thing, | 6 | ······ |
| In beckoning pilgrim feet | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| With marble finger high | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| To where, by shadowy wall and history-haunted street, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Those matchless singers lie . . . | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| —Say, then, he lived and died | 7 | ····˘·· |
| That stones which bear his name | 6 | ······ |
| Should mark, through Time, where two immortal Shades abide; | 12 | ······˘/˘·˘/ |
| It is an ample fame. | 6 | ···/˘· |
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.