Cornflowers
While bright but scentless azure starsBe-gem the golden corn,And spangle with their skyey tintThe furrows not yet shorn;While still the pure white tufts of MayApe each a snowy ball,--Away, ye merry maids, and hasteTo gather ere they fall!
Nowhere the sun of Spain outshinesUpon a fairer townThan Peñafiel, or endowsMore richly farming clown;Nowhere a broader square reflectsSuch brilliant mansions, tall,--Away, ye merry maids, etc.
Nowhere a statelier abbey rearsDome huger o'er a shrine,Though seek ye from old Rome itselfTo even Seville fine.Here countless pilgrims come to prayAnd promenade the Mall,--Away, ye merry maids, etc.
Where glide the girls more joyfullyThan ours who dance at dusk,With roses white upon their brows,With waists that scorn the busk?Mantillas elsewhere hide dull eyes--Compared with these, how small!Away, ye merry maids, etc.
A blossom in a city lane,Alizia was our pride,And oft the blundering bee, deceived,Came buzzing to her side--But, oh! for one that felt the sting,And found, 'neath honey, gall--Away, ye merry maids, etc.
Young, haughty, from still hotter lands,A stranger hither came--Was he a Moor or African,Or Murcian known to fame?None knew--least, she--or false or true,The name by which to call.Away, ye merry maids, etc.
Alizia asked not his degree,She saw him but as Love,And through Xarama's vale they strayed,And tarried in the grove,--Oh! curses on that fatal eve,And on that leafy hall!Away, ye merry maids, etc.
The darkened city breathed no more;The moon was mantled long,Till towers thrust the cloudy cloakUpon the steeples' throng;The crossway Christ, in ivy draped,Shrank, grieving, 'neath the pall,--Away, ye merry maids, etc.
But while, alone, they kept the shade,The other dark-eyed dearsWere murmuring on the stifling airTheir jealous threats and fears;Alizia was so blamed, that time,Unheeded rang the call:Away, ye merry maids, etc.
Although, above, the hawk describesThe circle round the lark,It sleeps, unconscious, and our lassHad eyes but for her spark--A spark?--a sun! 'Twas Juan, King!Who wears our coronal,--Away, ye merry maids, etc.
A love so far above one's stateEnds sadly. Came a blackAnd guarded palanquin to bearThe girl that ne'er comes back;By royal writ, some nunneryStill shields her from us allAway, ye merry maids, and hasteTo gather ere they fall!
Words in this poem 15
- scentless a.
- Having no scent.
- spangle n.
- A small plate or boss of shining metal; something brilliant used as an ornament, especially when stitched on the dress. [OE. spangel, dim. of AS. spange. See Spang a spangle.]
- skyey a.
- Like the sky; ethereal; being in the sky.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- nowhere adv.
- Not anywhere; not in any place or state; as, the book is nowhere to be found. [AS. nahwær. See No, and Where.]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
- promenade n.
- A walk for pleasure, display, or exercise. Burke. [F. (with a foreign suffix), from promener to lead, take for a walk, se promener to walk, from L. prominare to drive forward or along; pro forward + minare to dr]
- mall n.
- A large heavy wooden beetle; a mallet for driving anything with force; a maul. [OE. malle, F. mail, L. malleus. Cf. Malleus.]
- busk n.
- A thin, elastic strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset. [F. busc, perh. fr. the hypothetical older form of E. bois wood, because the first busks were made of wood. See Bush, and cf. OF. busche, F. bûche, a piece or lo]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- lass n.
- A youth woman; a girl; a sweetheart. [OE. lasse; prob. of Celtic origin; cf. W. llodes girl, fem. of llawd lad. (Lad a youth.]
- coronal a.
- Of or pertaining to a corona (in any of the senses). [L. coronalis: cf. F. coronal.]
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- nunnery n.
- A house in which nuns reside; a cloister or convent in which women reside for life, under religious vows. See Cloister, and Convent. [OE. nonnerie, OF. nonerie, F. nonnerie, fr. nonne nun, L. nonna. See Nun.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cornflowers is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands 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: Victor Hugo, Cornflowers, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/cornflowers.html, id L26732.
Form and metre
Cornflowers is 79 lines in 11 stanzas. 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 -A-A-B-B stars · cornA · tint · shornA · may · ballB · haste · fallB
- 2 -A-A--- outshines · townA · endows · clownA · reflects · tall · etc
- 3 -A-A--- rears · shrineA · itself · fineA · pray · mall · etc
- 4 -A-A--- joyfully · duskA · brows · buskA · eyes · small · etc
- 5 -A-A--- lane · prideA · deceived · sideA · sting · gall · etc
- 6 -A-A--- lands · cameA · african · fameA · true · call · etc
- 8 -A-A--- more · longA · cloak · throngA · draped · pall · etc
- 9 -A-A--- shade · dearsA · air · fearsA · time · call · etc
- 10 -A-A--- describes · larkA · lass · sparkA · king · coronal · etc
- 11 -A-A-B-B state · blackA · bear · backA · nunnery · allB · haste · fallB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| While bright but scentless azure stars | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Be-gem the golden corn, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And spangle with their skyey tint | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The furrows not yet shorn; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| While still the pure white tufts of May | 8 | ········ |
| Ape each a snowy ball,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Away, ye merry maids, and haste | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| To gather ere they fall! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nowhere the sun of Spain outshines | 8 | /·····/· |
| Upon a fairer town | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Than Peñafiel, or endows | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| More richly farming clown; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Nowhere a broader square reflects | 8 | /··/˘·˘/ |
| Such brilliant mansions, tall,-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Nowhere a statelier abbey rears | 9 | /·····/˘· |
| Dome huger o'er a shrine, | 6 | ······ |
| Though seek ye from old Rome itself | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To even Seville fine. | 6 | ·/˘˘/· |
| Here countless pilgrims come to pray | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And promenade the Mall,-- | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Where glide the girls more joyfully | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Than ours who dance at dusk, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| With roses white upon their brows, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With waists that scorn the busk? | 6 | ······ |
| Mantillas elsewhere hide dull eyes-- | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Compared with these, how small! | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| A blossom in a city lane, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Alizia was our pride, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And oft the blundering bee, deceived, | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| Came buzzing to her side-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But, oh! for one that felt the sting, | 8 | ········ |
| And found, 'neath honey, gall-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Young, haughty, from still hotter lands, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A stranger hither came-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Was he a Moor or African, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Or Murcian known to fame? | 6 | ······ |
| None knew--least, she--or false or true, | 8 | ········ |
| The name by which to call. | 6 | ······ |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Alizia asked not his degree, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| She saw him but as Love, | 6 | ······ |
| And through Xarama's vale they strayed, | 8 | ········ |
| And tarried in the grove,-- | 5 | ····· |
| Oh! curses on that fatal eve, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And on that leafy hall! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The darkened city breathed no more; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The moon was mantled long, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Till towers thrust the cloudy cloak | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Upon the steeples' throng; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The crossway Christ, in ivy draped, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Shrank, grieving, 'neath the pall,-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| But while, alone, they kept the shade, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The other dark-eyed dears | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Were murmuring on the stifling air | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Their jealous threats and fears; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Alizia was so blamed, that time, | 8 | ········ |
| Unheeded rang the call: | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Although, above, the hawk describes | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The circle round the lark, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| It sleeps, unconscious, and our lass | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Had eyes but for her spark-- | 6 | ······ |
| A spark?--a sun! 'Twas Juan, King! | 8 | ········ |
| Who wears our coronal,-- | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Away, ye merry maids, etc. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘˘ |
| A love so far above one's state | 8 | ········ |
| Ends sadly. Came a black | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And guarded palanquin to bear | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The girl that ne'er comes back; | 6 | ······ |
| By royal writ, some nunnery | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Still shields her from us all | 6 | ······ |
| Away, ye merry maids, and haste | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| To gather ere they fall! | 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.