Arabesque
On a background of pale goldI would trace with quaint design,Penciled fine,Brilliant-colored, Moorish scenes,Mosques and crescents, pages, queens,Line on line,That the prose-world of to-dayMight the gorgeous Past's arrayOnce behold.
On the magic painted shieldRich Granada's Vega greenShould be seen;Crystal fountains, coolness flinging,Hanging gardens' skyward springingEmerald sheen;Ruddy when the daylight falls,Crowned Alhambra's beetling wallsStand revealed;
Balconies that overbrowField and city, vale and stream.In a dreamLulled the drowsy landscape basks;Mark the gleamSilvery of each white-swathed peak!Mountain-airs caress the cheek,Fresh from the snow.
Here in Lindaraxa's bowerThe immortal roses bloom;In the roomLion-guarded, marble-paven,Still the fountain leaps to heaven.But the doomOf the banned and stricken raceOvershadows every place,Every hour.
Where fair Lindaraxa dweltFlits the bat on velvet wings;Mute the stringsOf the broken mandoline;The Pavilion of the QueenWidely flingsVacant windows to the night;Moonbeams kiss the floor with lightWhere she knelt.
Through these halls that people steppedWho through darkling centuriesHeld the keysOf all wisdom, truth, and art,In a Paradise apart,Lapped in ease,Sagely pondering deathless themes,While, befooled with monkish dreams,Europe slept.
Where shall they be found today?Yonder hill that frets the sky"The last SighOf the Moor" is named still.There the ill-starred BoabdilBade good-byTo Granada and to Spain,Where the Crescent ne'er againHoldeth sway.
Vanished like the wind that blows,Whither shall we seek their traceOn earth's face?The gigantic wheel of fate,Crushing all things soon or late,Now a race,Now a single life o'erruns,Now a universe of suns,Now a rose.
Words in this poem 22
- quaint a.
- Prudent; wise; hence, crafty; artful; wily. [OE. queint, queynte, coint, prudent, wise, cunning, pretty, odd, OF. cointe cultivated, amiable, agreeable, neat, fr. L. cognitus known, p. p. of cognoscere to ]
- penciled a.
- Painted, drawn, sketched, or marked with a pencil. [Written also pencilled.]
- 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.]
- vega n.
- A brilliant star of the first magnitude, the brightest of those constituting the constellation Lyra. [Ar. w, properly, falling: cf. F. Wéga.]
- skyward a.
- Toward the sky.
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- overbrow v. t.
- To hang over like a brow; to impend over.
- 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.]
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- mandoline n.
- A small and beautifully shaped instrument resembling the lute. [F. mandoline, It. mandolino, dim. of mandola, fr. L. pandura. See Bandore.]
- pavilion n.
- A temporary movable habitation; a large tent; a marquee; esp., a tent raised on posts. [F. pavillon, fr. L. pavilio a butterfly, also, a tent, because spread out like a butterfly's wings.]
- darkling a.
- Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
- sagely adv.
- In a sage manner; wisely.
- deathless a.
- Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
- monkish a.
- Like a monk, or pertaining to monks; monastic; as, monkish manners; monkish dress; monkish solitude.
- 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,]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- starred a.
- Adorned or studded with stars; bespangled. [From Star.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Arabesque is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Emma Lazarus, Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #3295; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Emma Lazarus, Arabesque, in Poems, Volume I (1867–1887), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3295, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lazarus-poems/arabesque.html, id L01897.
Form and metre
Arabesque is 71 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBCCBDDA, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.8 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 39% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABBCCBDDA goldA · designB · fineB · scenesC · queensC · lineB · dayD · arrayD · beholdA
- 2 ABBCCBDDA shieldA · greenB · seenB · flingingC · springingC · sheenB · fallsD · wallsD · revealedA
- 3 ABB-BCCA overbrowA · streamB · dreamB · basks · gleamB · peakC · cheekC · snowA
- 4 ABB--BCCA bowerA · bloomB · roomB · paven · heaven · doomB · raceC · placeC · hourA
- 5 ABB--BCCA dweltA · wingsB · stringsB · mandoline · queen · flingsB · nightC · lightC · kneltA
- 6 ABBCCBDDA steppedA · centuriesB · keysB · artC · apartC · easeB · themesD · dreamsD · sleptA
- 7 ABBCCBDDA todayA · skyB · sighB · stillC · boabdilC · byB · spainD · againD · swayA
- 8 ABBCCBDDA blowsA · traceB · faceB · fateC · lateC · raceB · o'errunsD · sunsD · roseA
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On a background of pale gold | 7 | ··/···· |
| I would trace with quaint design, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Penciled fine, | 3 | /˘· |
| Brilliant-colored, Moorish scenes, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Mosques and crescents, pages, queens, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Line on line, | 3 | ··· |
| That the prose-world of to-day | 7 | ······· |
| Might the gorgeous Past's array | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Once behold. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| On the magic painted shield | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Rich Granada's Vega green | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| Should be seen; | 3 | ··· |
| Crystal fountains, coolness flinging, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Hanging gardens' skyward springing | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Emerald sheen; | 3 | /˘· |
| Ruddy when the daylight falls, | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| Crowned Alhambra's beetling walls | 9 | ·˘˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Stand revealed; | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Balconies that overbrow | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Field and city, vale and stream. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In a dream | 3 | ··· |
| Lulled the drowsy landscape basks; | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| Mark the gleam | 3 | ··· |
| Silvery of each white-swathed peak! | 9 | /˘˘····˘· |
| Mountain-airs caress the cheek, | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Fresh from the snow. | 4 | ···· |
| Here in Lindaraxa's bower | 8 | ······/˘ |
| The immortal roses bloom; | 7 | ·˘/˘/˘· |
| In the room | 3 | ··· |
| Lion-guarded, marble-paven, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Still the fountain leaps to heaven. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| But the doom | 3 | ··· |
| Of the banned and stricken race | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Overshadows every place, | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Every hour. | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| Where fair Lindaraxa dwelt | 7 | ······· |
| Flits the bat on velvet wings; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Mute the strings | 3 | ··· |
| Of the broken mandoline; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The Pavilion of the Queen | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Widely flings | 3 | /˘· |
| Vacant windows to the night; | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Moonbeams kiss the floor with light | 7 | /······ |
| Where she knelt. | 3 | ··· |
| Through these halls that people stepped | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Who through darkling centuries | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Held the keys | 3 | ··· |
| Of all wisdom, truth, and art, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In a Paradise apart, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Lapped in ease, | 3 | ··· |
| Sagely pondering deathless themes, | 8 | /˘/˘˘/˘· |
| While, befooled with monkish dreams, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Europe slept. | 3 | /˘· |
| Where shall they be found today? | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Yonder hill that frets the sky | 7 | /˘····· |
| "The last Sigh | 3 | ··· |
| Of the Moor" is named still. | 6 | ······ |
| There the ill-starred Boabdil | 6 | ······ |
| Bade good-by | 3 | ··· |
| To Granada and to Spain, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Where the Crescent ne'er again | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Holdeth sway. | 3 | /˘· |
| Vanished like the wind that blows, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Whither shall we seek their trace | 7 | /˘····· |
| On earth's face? | 3 | ··· |
| The gigantic wheel of fate, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Crushing all things soon or late, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Now a race, | 3 | ··· |
| Now a single life o'erruns, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Now a universe of suns, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Now a rose. | 3 | ··· |
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.