Centaur Song
Now that the day is done,now that the night creeps softand dims the chestnut clusters’radiant spike of flower,O sweet, till dawnbreak through the branchesof our orchard-garden,rest in this shelterof the osier-wood and thorn.
They fall,the apple-flowers;nor softer grace has Aphroditein the heaven afar,nor at so fair a paceopen the flower-petalsas your face bends down,while, breath on breath,your mouth wandersfrom my mouth o’er my face.
What have I leftto bring you in this place,already sweet with violets?(those you broughtwith swathes of earliest grass,forest and meadow balm,flung from your giant armsfor us to rest upon.)
Fair are these petalsbroken by your feet;your horse’s hoovestread softer than a deer’s;your eyes, startled,are like the deer eyeswhile your hearttrembles more than the deer.
O earth, O god,O forest, stream or river,what shall I bringthat all the day hold back,that Dawn remember Loveand rest upon her bed,and Zeus, forgetful not of Danæ or Maia,
bid the stars shine forever.
Words in this poem
- aphrodite n.
- The Greek goddess of love, corresponding to the Venus of the Romans.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- 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,]
- forgetful a.
- Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Centaur Song 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., Centaur Song, in Heliodora, and Other Poems (1924), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #62456, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hd-heliodora/centaur-song.html, id L24301.
Form and metre
Centaur Song is 43 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ----A-A-- done · soft · clusters · flower · dawnA · branches · gardenA · shelter · thorn
- 2 ----A----A fall · flowers · aphrodite · afar · paceA · petals · down · breath · wanders · faceA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now that the day is done, | 6 | ······ |
| now that the night creeps soft | 6 | ······ |
| and dims the chestnut clusters’ | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| radiant spike of flower, | 7 | /˘˘··/˘ |
| O sweet, till dawn | 4 | ···· |
| break through the branches | 5 | ···/˘ |
| of our orchard-garden, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| rest in this shelter | 5 | ···/˘ |
| of the osier-wood and thorn. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| They fall, | 2 | ·· |
| the apple-flowers; | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| nor softer grace has Aphrodite | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| in the heaven afar, | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| nor at so fair a pace | 6 | ······ |
| open the flower-petals | 7 | /˘·/˘/˘ |
| as your face bends down, | 5 | ····· |
| while, breath on breath, | 4 | ···· |
| your mouth wanders | 4 | ··/˘ |
| from my mouth o’er my face. | 6 | ······ |
| What have I left | 4 | ···· |
| to bring you in this place, | 6 | ······ |
| already sweet with violets? | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| (those you brought | 3 | ··· |
| with swathes of earliest grass, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| forest and meadow balm, | 6 | /˘·/·· |
| flung from your giant arms | 6 | ···/˘· |
| for us to rest upon.) | 6 | ······ |
| Fair are these petals | 5 | ···/˘ |
| broken by your feet; | 5 | /˘··· |
| your horse’s hooves | 4 | ·/˘· |
| tread softer than a deer’s; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| your eyes, startled, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| are like the deer eyes | 5 | ····· |
| while your heart | 3 | ··· |
| trembles more than the deer. | 6 | /˘···· |
| O earth, O god, | 4 | ···· |
| O forest, stream or river, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| what shall I bring | 4 | ···· |
| that all the day hold back, | 6 | ······ |
| that Dawn remember Love | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| and rest upon her bed, | 6 | ······ |
| and Zeus, forgetful not of Danæ or Maia, | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| bid the stars shine forever. | 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.