Imperial Revels
Cheer, courtiers! round the banquet spread--The board that groans with shame and plate,Still fawning to the sham-crowned headThat hopes front brazen turneth fate!Drink till the comer last is full,And never hear in revels' lull,Grim Vengeance forging arrows fleet,Whilst I gnaw at the crustOf Exile in the dust--But Honor makes it sweet!
Ye cheaters in the tricksters' fane,Who dupe yourself and trickster-chief,In blazing cafés spend the gain,But draw the blind, lest at his thiefSome fresh-made beggar gives a glanceAnd interrupts with steel the dance!But let him toilsomely tramp by,As I myself afarFollow no gilded carIn ways of Honesty.
Ye troopers who shot mothers down,And marshals whose brave cannonadeBroke infant arms and split the stoneWhere slumbered age and guileless maid--Though blood is in the cup you fill,Pretend it "rosy" wine, and stillHail Cannon "King!" and Steel the "Queen!"But I prefer to supFrom Philip Sidney's cup--True soldier's draught serene.
Oh, workmen, seen by me sublime,When from the tyrant wrenched ye peace,Can you be dazed by tinselled crime,And spy no wolf beneath the fleece?Build palaces where Fortunes feast,And bear your loads like well-trained beast,Though once such masters you made flee!But then, like me, you ateFood of a blessed fête--The bread of Liberty!
Words in this poem
- comer n.
- One who comes, or who has come; one who has arrived, and is present. All comers, all who come, or offer, to take part in a matter, especially in a contest or controversy.
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- 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.]
- cannonade n.
- The act of discharging cannon and throwing ball, shell, etc., for the purpose of destroying an army, or battering a town, ship, or fort; -- usually, an attack of some continuance. [F. Canonnade; cf. It. cannanata.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- guileless a.
- Free from guile; artless.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Imperial Revels 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, Imperial Revels, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/imperial-revels.html, id L26793.
Form and metre
Imperial Revels is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic 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--CDDC spreadA · plateB · headA · fateB · full · lull · fleetC · crustD · dustD · sweetC
- 2 ABABCC-DD- faneA · chiefB · gainA · thiefB · glanceC · danceC · by · afarD · carD · honesty
- 3 -A-ABBCDDC down · cannonadeA · stone · maidA · fillB · stillB · queenC · supD · cupD · sereneC
- 4 ABABCC---- sublimeA · peaceB · crimeA · fleeceB · feastC · beastC · flee · ate · fête · liberty
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Cheer, courtiers! round the banquet spread-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The board that groans with shame and plate, | 8 | ········ |
| Still fawning to the sham-crowned head | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That hopes front brazen turneth fate! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Drink till the comer last is full, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And never hear in revels' lull, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Grim Vengeance forging arrows fleet, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Whilst I gnaw at the crust | 6 | ······ |
| Of Exile in the dust-- | 6 | ·/···· |
| But Honor makes it sweet! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Ye cheaters in the tricksters' fane, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who dupe yourself and trickster-chief, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| In blazing cafés spend the gain, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| But draw the blind, lest at his thief | 8 | ········ |
| Some fresh-made beggar gives a glance | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And interrupts with steel the dance! | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| But let him toilsomely tramp by, | 9 | ········· |
| As I myself afar | 6 | ···/˘/ |
| Follow no gilded car | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| In ways of Honesty. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Ye troopers who shot mothers down, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And marshals whose brave cannonade | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Broke infant arms and split the stone | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where slumbered age and guileless maid-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though blood is in the cup you fill, | 8 | ········ |
| Pretend it "rosy" wine, and still | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Hail Cannon "King!" and Steel the "Queen!" | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But I prefer to sup | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| From Philip Sidney's cup-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| True soldier's draught serene. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Oh, workmen, seen by me sublime, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| When from the tyrant wrenched ye peace, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Can you be dazed by tinselled crime, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And spy no wolf beneath the fleece? | 8 | ········ |
| Build palaces where Fortunes feast, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And bear your loads like well-trained beast, | 8 | ········ |
| Though once such masters you made flee! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But then, like me, you ate | 6 | ······ |
| Food of a blessed fête-- | 5 | ····· |
| The bread of Liberty! | 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.