The Cymbaleer's Bride
My lord the Duke of BrittanyHas summoned his barons bold--Their names make a fearful litany!Among them you will not meet anyBut men of giant mould.
Proud earls, who dwell in donjon keep,And steel-clad knight and peer,Whose forts are girt with a moat cut deep--But none excel in soldiershipMy own loved cymbaleer.
Clashing his cymbals, forth he went,With a bold and gallant bearing;Sure for a captain he was meant,To judge his pride with courage blent,And the cloth of gold he's wearing.
But in my soul since then I feelA fear in secret creeping;And to my patron saint I kneel,That she may recommend his wealTo his guardian-angel's keeping.
I've begged our abbot BernardineHis prayers not to relax;And to procure him aid divineI've burnt upon Saint Gilda's shrineThree pounds of virgin wax.
Our Lady of Loretto knowsThe pilgrimage I've vowed:"To wear the scallop I propose,If health and safety from the foesMy lover be allowed."
No letter (fond affection's gage!)From him could I require,The pain of absence to assuage--A vassal-maid can have no page,A liegeman has no squire.
This day will witness, with the duke's,My cymbaleer's return:Gladness and pride beam in my looks,Delay my heart impatient brooks,All meaner thoughts I spurn.
Back from the battlefield elateHis banner brings each peer;Come, let us see, at the ancient gate,The martial triumph pass in state--With the princes my cymbaleer.
We'll have from the rampart walls a glanceOf the air his steed assumes;His proud neck swells, his glad hoofs prance,And on his head unceasing dance,In a gorgeous tuft, red plumes!
Be quick, my sisters! dress in haste!Come, see him bear the bell,With laurels decked, with true love graced,While in his bold hands, fitly placed,The bounding cymbals swell!
Mark well the mantle that he'll wear,Embroidered by his bride!Admire his burnished helmet's glare,O'ershadowed by the dark horsehairThat waves in jet folds wide!
The gypsy (spiteful wench!) foretold,With a voice like a viper hissing.(Though I had crossed her palm with gold),That from the ranks a spirit boldWould be to-day found missing.
But I have prayed so much, I trustHer words may prove untrue;Though in a tomb the hag accurstMuttered: "Prepare thee for the worst!"Whilst the lamp burnt ghastly blue.
My joy her spells shall not prevent.Hark! I can hear the drums!And ladies fair from silken tentPeep forth, and every eye is bentOn the cavalcade that comes!
Pikemen, dividing on both flanks,Open the pageantry;Loud, as they tread, their armor clanks,And silk-robed barons lead the ranks--The pink of gallantry!
In scarfs of gold the priests admire;The heralds on white steeds;Armorial pride decks their attire,Worn in remembrance of some sireFamed for heroic deeds.
Feared by the Paynim's dark divan,The Templars next advance;Then the tall halberds of Lausanne,Foremost to stand in battle vanAgainst the foes of France.
Now hail the duke, with radiant brow,Girt with his cavaliers;Round his triumphant banner bowThose of his foe. Look, sisters, now!Here come the cymbaleers!
She spoke--with searching eye surveyedTheir ranks--then, pale, aghast,Sunk in the crowd! Death came in aid--'Twas mercy to that loving maid--The cymbaleers had passed!
Words in this poem 28
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- donjon n.
- The chief tower, also called the keep; a massive tower in ancient castles, forming the strongest part of the fortifications. [See Dungeon.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- soldiership n.
- Military qualities or state; martial skill; behavior becoming a soldier.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- bernardine a.
- Of or pertaining to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, or to the Cistercian monks.
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
- propose v. i.
- To speak; to converse.
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- accurst p. p.
- Doomed to destruction or misery; cursed; hence, bad enough to be under the curse; execrable; detestable; exceedingly hateful; -- as, an accursed deed.
- 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,]
- cavalcade n.
- A procession of persons on horseback; a formal, pompous march of horsemen by way of parade. [F. cavalcade, fr. It. cavalcata, fr. cavalcare to go on horseback, fr. LL. caballicare, fr. L. caballus an inferior horse, Gr. Cavalier, Cavalry.]
- pageantry n.
- Scenic shows or spectacles, taken collectivelly; spectacular guality; splendor.
- gallantry n.
- Splendor of appearance; ostentatious finery. [F. galanterie.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- divan n.
- A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] [Per. diwan a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwan, F. divan.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Cymbaleer's Bride 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, The Cymbaleer's Bride, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/the-cymbaleer-s-bride.html, id L26711.
Form and metre
The Cymbaleer's Bride is 100 lines in 20 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 18 of its 20 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
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 ABAAB brittanyA · boldB · litanyA · anyA · mouldB
- 2 ABAAB keepA · peerB · deepA · soldiershipA · cymbaleerB
- 3 ABAAB wentA · bearingB · meantA · blentA · wearingB
- 4 ABAAB feelA · creepingB · kneelA · wealA · keepingB
- 5 ABAAB bernardineA · relaxB · divineA · shrineA · waxB
- 6 ABAAB knowsA · vowedB · proposeA · foesA · allowedB
- 7 ABAAB gageA · requireB · assuageA · pageA · squireB
- 8 ABAAB duke'sA · returnB · looksA · brooksA · spurnB
- 9 ABAAB elateA · peerB · gateA · stateA · cymbaleerB
- 10 ABAAB glanceA · assumesB · pranceA · danceA · plumesB
- 11 ABAAB hasteA · bellB · gracedA · placedA · swellB
- 12 ABAAB wearA · brideB · glareA · horsehairA · wideB
- 13 ABAAB foretoldA · hissingB · goldA · boldA · missingB
- 14 ABAAB trustA · untrueB · accurstA · worstA · blueB
- 15 ABAAB preventA · drumsB · tentA · bentA · comesB
- 16 A--A- flanksA · pageantry · clanks · ranksA · gallantry
- 17 -ABBA admire · steedsA · attireB · sireB · deedsA
- 18 ABAAB divanA · advanceB · lausanneA · vanA · franceB
- 19 ABAAB browA · cavaliersB · bowA · nowA · cymbaleersB
- 20 ABAAB surveyedA · aghastB · aidA · maidA · passedB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My lord the Duke of Brittany | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Has summoned his barons bold-- | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Their names make a fearful litany! | 9 | ····/˘/˘˘ |
| Among them you will not meet any | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| But men of giant mould. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Proud earls, who dwell in donjon keep, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And steel-clad knight and peer, | 6 | ······ |
| Whose forts are girt with a moat cut deep-- | 9 | ········· |
| But none excel in soldiership | 8 | ··˘/·/˘˘ |
| My own loved cymbaleer. | 6 | ······ |
| Clashing his cymbals, forth he went, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| With a bold and gallant bearing; | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Sure for a captain he was meant, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To judge his pride with courage blent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the cloth of gold he's wearing. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But in my soul since then I feel | 8 | ········ |
| A fear in secret creeping; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And to my patron saint I kneel, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That she may recommend his weal | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To his guardian-angel's keeping. | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| I've begged our abbot Bernardine | 9 | ··/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| His prayers not to relax; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And to procure him aid divine | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| I've burnt upon Saint Gilda's shrine | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Three pounds of virgin wax. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Our Lady of Loretto knows | 8 | //˘·˘/˘· |
| The pilgrimage I've vowed: | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| "To wear the scallop I propose, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| If health and safety from the foes | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My lover be allowed." | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| No letter (fond affection's gage!) | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| From him could I require, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The pain of absence to assuage-- | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A vassal-maid can have no page, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A liegeman has no squire. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| This day will witness, with the duke's, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My cymbaleer's return: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Gladness and pride beam in my looks, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Delay my heart impatient brooks, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| All meaner thoughts I spurn. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Back from the battlefield elate | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| His banner brings each peer; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Come, let us see, at the ancient gate, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The martial triumph pass in state-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With the princes my cymbaleer. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| We'll have from the rampart walls a glance | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Of the air his steed assumes; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| His proud neck swells, his glad hoofs prance, | 8 | ········ |
| And on his head unceasing dance, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In a gorgeous tuft, red plumes! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Be quick, my sisters! dress in haste! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Come, see him bear the bell, | 6 | ······ |
| With laurels decked, with true love graced, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| While in his bold hands, fitly placed, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The bounding cymbals swell! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Mark well the mantle that he'll wear, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Embroidered by his bride! | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Admire his burnished helmet's glare, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| O'ershadowed by the dark horsehair | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That waves in jet folds wide! | 6 | ······ |
| The gypsy (spiteful wench!) foretold, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| With a voice like a viper hissing. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| (Though I had crossed her palm with gold), | 8 | ········ |
| That from the ranks a spirit bold | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would be to-day found missing. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But I have prayed so much, I trust | 8 | ········ |
| Her words may prove untrue; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Though in a tomb the hag accurst | 8 | ········ |
| Muttered: "Prepare thee for the worst!" | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| Whilst the lamp burnt ghastly blue. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| My joy her spells shall not prevent. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Hark! I can hear the drums! | 6 | ······ |
| And ladies fair from silken tent | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Peep forth, and every eye is bent | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| On the cavalcade that comes! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Pikemen, dividing on both flanks, | 9 | ···˘/˘··· |
| Open the pageantry; | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Loud, as they tread, their armor clanks, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And silk-robed barons lead the ranks-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The pink of gallantry! | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| In scarfs of gold the priests admire; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The heralds on white steeds; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Armorial pride decks their attire, | 9 | ˘/˘˘···˘/ |
| Worn in remembrance of some sire | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Famed for heroic deeds. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Feared by the Paynim's dark divan, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The Templars next advance; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Then the tall halberds of Lausanne, | 8 | ·······/ |
| Foremost to stand in battle van | 8 | /····/˘· |
| Against the foes of France. | 6 | ······ |
| Now hail the duke, with radiant brow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Girt with his cavaliers; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Round his triumphant banner bow | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Those of his foe. Look, sisters, now! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Here come the cymbaleers! | 6 | ······ |
| She spoke--with searching eye surveyed | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Their ranks--then, pale, aghast, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Sunk in the crowd! Death came in aid-- | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twas mercy to that loving maid-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The cymbaleers had passed! | 6 | ······ |
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