Cassandra
Hymen, O Hymen king,what bitter thing is this?what shaft, tearing my heart?what scar, what light, what firesearing my eye-balls and my eyes with flame?nameless, O spoken name,king, lord, speak blameless Hymen.
Why do you blind my eyes?why do you dart and pulsetill all the dark is home,then find my souland ruthless draw it back?scaling the scaleless,opening the dark?speak, nameless, power and might;when will you leave me quite?when will you break my wingsor leave them utterly freeto scale heaven endlessly?
A bitter, broken thing,my heart, O Hymen lord,yet neither drought nor swordbaffles men quite,why must they feign to fearmy virgin glance?feigned utterly or realwhy do they shrink?my trance frightens them,breaks the dance,empties the market place;if I but pass they fallback, frantically;must always people mock?unless they shrink and reelas in the templeat your uttered will.
O Hymen king,lord, greatest, power, might,look for my face is dark,burnt with your light,your fire, O Hymen lord;is there none leftcan equal mein ecstasy, desire?is there none leftcan bear with methe kiss of your white fire?is there not one,Phrygian or frenzied Greek,poet, song-swept, or bard,one meet to take from methis bitter power of song,one fit to speak, Hymen,your praises, lord?
May I not wedas you have wed?may it not break, beauty,from out my hands, my head, my feet?may Love not lie beside metill his heatburn me to ash?may he not comfort me, then,spent of all that fire and heat,still, ashen-white and coolas the wet laurels,white, before your feetstep on the mountain-slope,before your fiery handlift up the mantlecovering flower and land,as a man lifts,O Hymen, from his bride,(cowering with woman eyes,) the veil?O Hymen lord, be kind.
Words in this poem
- hymen n.
- A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
- ruthless a.
- Having no ruth; cruel; pitiless.
- scaling a.
- Adapted for removing scales, as from a fish; as, a scaling knife; adapted for removing scale, as from the interior of a steam boiler; as, a scaling hammer, bar, etc.
- scaleless a.
- Destitute of scales.
- endlessly adv.
- In an endless manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cassandra is in the public domain. This text is taken from Heliodora, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #62456; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: H.D., Cassandra, in Heliodora, and Other Poems (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62456, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hd-heliodora/cassandra.html, id L24310.
Form and metre
Cassandra is 74 lines in 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ----AA- king · this · heart · fire · flameA · nameA · hymen
- 2 -------AA--- eyes · pulse · home · soul · back · scaleless · dark · mightA · quiteA · wings · free · endlessly
- 3 -AA--BC--B-D--CDD thing · lordA · swordA · quite · fear · glanceB · realC · shrink · them · danceB · place · fallD · frantically · mock · reelC · templeD · willD
- 4 -A-ABCDECDE---D--B king · mightA · dark · lightA · lordB · leftC · meD · desireE · leftC · meD · fireE · one · greek · bard · meD · song · hymen · lordB
- 5 AA-B-B--B--B-CDC--D- wedA · wedA · beauty · feetB · me · heatB · ash · then · heatB · cool · laurels · feetB · slope · handC · mantleD · landC · lifts · bride · veilD · kind
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Hymen, O Hymen king, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| what bitter thing is this? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| what shaft, tearing my heart? | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| what scar, what light, what fire | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| searing my eye-balls and my eyes with flame? | 10 | /˘········ |
| nameless, O spoken name, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| king, lord, speak blameless Hymen. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Why do you blind my eyes? | 6 | ······ |
| why do you dart and pulse | 6 | ······ |
| till all the dark is home, | 6 | ······ |
| then find my soul | 4 | ···· |
| and ruthless draw it back? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| scaling the scaleless, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| opening the dark? | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| speak, nameless, power and might; | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| when will you leave me quite? | 6 | ······ |
| when will you break my wings | 6 | ······ |
| or leave them utterly free | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| to scale heaven endlessly? | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| A bitter, broken thing, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| my heart, O Hymen lord, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| yet neither drought nor sword | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| baffles men quite, | 4 | /˘·· |
| why must they feign to fear | 6 | ······ |
| my virgin glance? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| feigned utterly or real | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| why do they shrink? | 4 | ···· |
| my trance frightens them, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| breaks the dance, | 3 | ··· |
| empties the market place; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| if I but pass they fall | 6 | ······ |
| back, frantically; | 5 | ·/˘˘˘ |
| must always people mock? | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| unless they shrink and reel | 6 | ······ |
| as in the temple | 5 | ···/˘ |
| at your uttered will. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O Hymen king, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| lord, greatest, power, might, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| look for my face is dark, | 6 | ······ |
| burnt with your light, | 4 | ···· |
| your fire, O Hymen lord; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| is there none left | 4 | ···· |
| can equal me | 4 | ·/˘· |
| in ecstasy, desire? | 7 | ·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| is there none left | 4 | ···· |
| can bear with me | 4 | ···· |
| the kiss of your white fire? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| is there not one, | 4 | ···· |
| Phrygian or frenzied Greek, | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| poet, song-swept, or bard, | 6 | /˘···· |
| one meet to take from me | 6 | ······ |
| this bitter power of song, | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| one fit to speak, Hymen, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| your praises, lord? | 4 | ·/˘· |
| May I not wed | 4 | ···· |
| as you have wed? | 4 | ···· |
| may it not break, beauty, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| from out my hands, my head, my feet? | 8 | ········ |
| may Love not lie beside me | 7 | ····˘/· |
| till his heat | 3 | ··· |
| burn me to ash? | 4 | ···· |
| may he not comfort me, then, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| spent of all that fire and heat, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| still, ashen-white and cool | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| as the wet laurels, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| white, before your feet | 5 | ····· |
| step on the mountain-slope, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| before your fiery hand | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| lift up the mantle | 5 | ···/˘ |
| covering flower and land, | 7 | /˘˘/˘·· |
| as a man lifts, | 4 | ···· |
| O Hymen, from his bride, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| (cowering with woman eyes,) the veil? | 9 | /˘˘·/˘··· |
| O Hymen lord, be kind. | 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.