Noël
L'Academie en respect,Nonobstant l'incorrectionA la faveur du sujet,Ture-lure,N'y fera point de rature;Noël! ture-lure-lure.-- Gui Barozai
Quand les astres de NoëlBrillaient, palpitaient au ciel,Six gaillards, et chacun ivre,Chantaient gaiment dans le givre,"Bons amis,Allons donc chez Agassiz!"
Ces illustres PelerinsD'Outre-Mer adroits et fins,Se donnant des airs de pretre,A l'envi se vantaient d'etre"Bons amis,De Jean Rudolphe Agassiz!"
Oeil-de-Perdrix, grand farceur,Sans reproche et sans pudeur,Dans son patois de Bourgogne,Bredouillait comme un ivrogne,"Bons amis,J'ai danse chez Agassiz!"
Verzenay le Champenois,Bon Francais, point New-Yorquois,Mais des environs d'Avize,Fredonne a mainte reprise,"Bons amis,J'ai chante chez Agassiz!"
A cote marchait un vieuxHidalgo, mais non mousseux;Dans le temps de CharlemagneFut son pere Grand d'Espagne!"Bons amis,J'ai dine chez Agassiz!"
Derriere eux un Bordelais,Gascon, s'il en fut jamais,Parfume de poesieRiait, chantait, plein de vie,"Bons amis,J'ai soupe chez Agassiz!"
Avec ce beau cadet roux,Bras dessus et bras dessous,Mine altiere et couleur terne,Vint le Sire de Sauterne;"Bons amis,J'ai couche chez Agassiz!"
Mais le dernier de ces preux,Etait un pauvre Chartreux,Qui disait, d'un ton robuste,"Benedictions sur le Juste!Bons amis,Benissons Pere Agassiz!"
Ils arrivent trois a trois,Montent l'escalier de boisClopin-clopant! quel gendarmePeut permettre ce vacarme,Bons amis,A la porte d'Agassiz!
"Ouvrer donc, mon bon Seigneur,Ouvrez vite et n'ayez peur;Ouvrez, ouvrez, car nous sommesGens de bien et gentilshommes,Bons amisDe la famille Agassiz!"
Chut, ganaches! taisez-vous!C'en est trop de vos glouglous;Epargnez aux PhilosophesVos abominables strophes!Bons amis,Respectez mon Agassiz!
Words in this poem 20
- givre n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- sans prep.
- Without; deprived or destitute of. Rarely used as an English word. [F., from L. sine without.]
- patois n.
- A dialect peculiar to the illiterate classes; a provincial form of speech. [F.]
- environs n.
- The parts or places which surround another place, or lie in its neighborhood; suburbs; as, the environs of a city or town. [F.]
- reprise n.
- A taking by way of retaliation. [F. reprise, fr. reprendre, repris, to take back, L. reprehendere. See Reprehend.]
- cote n.
- A cottage or hut. [See 1st Cot.]
- hidalgo n.
- A title, denoting a Spanish nobleman of the lower class. [Sp., contr. fr. hijo de algo, i. e., son of something; hijo son (fr. LL. filius) + algo something, fr. L. aliquod. Cf. Fidalgo.]
- dine v. i.
- To eat the principal regular meal of the day; to take dinner. [F. dîner, OF. disner, LL. disnare, contr. fr. an assumed disjunare; dis- + an assumed junare (OF. juner) to fast, for L. jejunare, fr. jejunus fasting. See Jeju]
- bordelais a.
- Of or pertaining to Bordeaux, in France, or to the district around Bordeaux. [F.]
- gascon a.
- Of or pertaining to Gascony, in France, or to the Gascons; also, braggart; swaggering. [F.]
- plein v. i.
- To complain. See Plain.
- roux n.
- A thickening, made of flour, for soups and gravies. [F. beurre roux brown butter.]
- couleur n.
- Color; -- chiefly used in a few French phrases, as couler de rose, color of rose; and hence, adjectively, rose-colored; roseate.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- sauterne n.
- A white wine made in the district of sauterne, France. [F.]
- dernier a.
- Last; final. Dernier ressort ( Etym: [F.], last resort or expedient. [F., from OF. darrein, derrain. See Darrein.]
- gendarme n.
- One of a body of heavy cavalry. [France] [F.]
- porte n.
- The Ottoman court; the government of the Turkish empire, officially called the Sublime Porte, from the gate (port) of the sultan's palace at which justice was administered. [F. porte a gate, L. porta. See Port a gate.]
- nous n.
- Intellect; understanding; talent; -- used humorously.
- gens n.
- A clan or family connection, embracing several families of the same stock, who had a common name and certain common religious rites; a subdivision of the Roman curia or tribe. [L. See Gentle, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Noël is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Noël, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/no-l.html, id L17717.
Form and metre
Noël is 73 lines in 12 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.1 syllables. 25 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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 ---A-A- respect · l'incorrection · sujet · lureA · rature · lureA · barozai
- 3 AABB-- pelerinsA · finsA · pretreB · d'etreB · amis · agassiz
- 4 AABB-- farceurA · pudeurA · bourgogneB · ivrogneB · amis · agassiz
- 5 --AA-A champenois · yorquois · d'avizeA · repriseA · amis · agassizA
- 6 --AA-- vieux · mousseux · charlemagneA · d'espagneA · amis · agassiz
- 7 AA---- bordelaisA · jamaisA · poesie · vie · amis · agassiz
- 8 --AA-- roux · dessous · terneA · sauterneA · amis · agassiz
- 9 AABB-- preuxA · chartreuxA · robusteB · justeB · amis · agassiz
- 10 AABB-- troisA · boisA · gendarmeB · vacarmeB · amis · d'agassiz
- 11 AABB-- seigneurA · peurA · sommesB · gentilshommesB · amis · agassiz
- 12 AABB-- vousA · glouglousA · philosophesB · strophesB · amis · agassiz
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 |
|---|---|---|
| L'Academie en respect, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Nonobstant l'incorrection | 7 | ······· |
| A la faveur du sujet, | 7 | ······· |
| Ture-lure, | 2 | ·· |
| N'y fera point de rature; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Noël! ture-lure-lure. | 4 | ···· |
| -- Gui Barozai | 4 | ···· |
| Quand les astres de Noël | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| Brillaient, palpitaient au ciel, | 7 | ······· |
| Six gaillards, et chacun ivre, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Chantaient gaiment dans le givre, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| "Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Allons donc chez Agassiz!" | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Ces illustres Pelerins | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| D'Outre-Mer adroits et fins, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Se donnant des airs de pretre, | 8 | ·/······ |
| A l'envi se vantaient d'etre | 9 | ···//··/˘ |
| "Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| De Jean Rudolphe Agassiz!" | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Oeil-de-Perdrix, grand farceur, | 7 | ······· |
| Sans reproche et sans pudeur, | 7 | ······· |
| Dans son patois de Bourgogne, | 7 | ······· |
| Bredouillait comme un ivrogne, | 7 | ······· |
| "Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| J'ai danse chez Agassiz!" | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Verzenay le Champenois, | 7 | ······· |
| Bon Francais, point New-Yorquois, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Mais des environs d'Avize, | 7 | ··˘/˘·· |
| Fredonne a mainte reprise, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| "Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| J'ai chante chez Agassiz!" | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| A cote marchait un vieux | 6 | ······ |
| Hidalgo, mais non mousseux; | 7 | ˘/····· |
| Dans le temps de Charlemagne | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Fut son pere Grand d'Espagne! | 6 | ······ |
| "Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| J'ai dine chez Agassiz!" | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Derriere eux un Bordelais, | 7 | ······· |
| Gascon, s'il en fut jamais, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Parfume de poesie | 5 | ····· |
| Riait, chantait, plein de vie, | 6 | ······ |
| "Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| J'ai soupe chez Agassiz!" | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Avec ce beau cadet roux, | 7 | ····˘/· |
| Bras dessus et bras dessous, | 7 | ······· |
| Mine altiere et couleur terne, | 7 | ······· |
| Vint le Sire de Sauterne; | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| "Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| J'ai couche chez Agassiz!" | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Mais le dernier de ces preux, | 7 | ······· |
| Etait un pauvre Chartreux, | 6 | ······ |
| Qui disait, d'un ton robuste, | 7 | ······· |
| "Benedictions sur le Juste! | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Benissons Pere Agassiz!" | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Ils arrivent trois a trois, | 7 | ······· |
| Montent l'escalier de bois | 7 | ······· |
| Clopin-clopant! quel gendarme | 7 | ·····/· |
| Peut permettre ce vacarme, | 6 | ······ |
| Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| A la porte d'Agassiz! | 6 | ······ |
| "Ouvrer donc, mon bon Seigneur, | 7 | ······· |
| Ouvrez vite et n'ayez peur; | 6 | ······ |
| Ouvrez, ouvrez, car nous sommes | 7 | ······· |
| Gens de bien et gentilshommes, | 7 | ······· |
| Bons amis | 3 | ·/˘ |
| De la famille Agassiz!" | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Chut, ganaches! taisez-vous! | 7 | ······· |
| C'en est trop de vos glouglous; | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| Epargnez aux Philosophes | 7 | ······· |
| Vos abominables strophes! | 7 | ·˘/˘˘˘· |
| Bons amis, | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Respectez mon Agassiz! | 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.