The Blue Scarf
Pale, with the blue of high zeniths, shimmered over with silver, brocadedIn smooth, running patterns, a soft stuff, with dark knotted fringes,it lies there,Warm from a woman's soft shoulders, and my fingers close on it, caressing.Where is she, the woman who wore it? The scent of her lingers and drugs me!A languor, fire-shotted, runs through me, and I crush the scarf downon my face,And gulp in the warmth and the blueness, and my eyes swimin cool-tinted heavens.Around me are columns of marble, and a diapered, sun-flickered pavement.Rose-leaves blow and patter against it. Below the stone steps a lute tinkles.A jar of green jade throws its shadow half over the floor. A big-belliedFrog hops through the sunlight and plops in the gold-bubbled water of a basin,Sunk in the black and white marble. The west wind has lifted a scarfOn the seat close beside me, the blue of it is a violent outrage of colour.She draws it more closely about her, and it ripples beneathher slight stirring.Her kisses are sharp buds of fire; and I burn back against her, a jewelHard and white; a stalked, flaming flower; till I break toa handful of cinders,And open my eyes to the scarf, shining blue in the afternoon sunshine.How loud clocks can tick when a room is empty, and one is alone!
Words in this poem
- brocaded a.
- Woven or worked, as brocade, with gold and silver, or with raised flowers, etc.
- shotted a.
- Loaded with shot.
- gulp v. t.
- To swallow eagerly, or in large draughts; to swallow up; to take down at one swallow. [D. gulpen, cf. OD. golpe gulf.]
- blueness n.
- The quality of being blue; a blue color. Boyle.
- patter v. i.
- To strike with a quick succession of slight, sharp sounds; as, pattering rain or hail; pattering feet. [Freq. of pat to strike gently.]
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Blue Scarf is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sword Blades and Poppy Seed, Project Gutenberg ebook #1020; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Amy Lowell, The Blue Scarf, in Sword Blades and Poppy Seed (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1020, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lowell-amy-sword-blades/the-blue-scarf.html, id L08241.
Form and metre
The Blue Scarf is 22 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 80% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 13.7 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Pale, with the blue of high zeniths, shimmered over with silver, brocaded | 17 | ······/˘/˘··/˘˘/˘ |
| In smooth, running patterns, a soft stuff, with dark knotted fringes, | 15 | ··/˘/˘·····/˘/˘ |
| it lies there, | 3 | ··· |
| Warm from a woman's soft shoulders, and my fingers close on it, caressing. | 18 | ···/˘·/˘··/˘···˘/˘ |
| Where is she, the woman who wore it? The scent of her lingers and drugs me! | 18 | ····/˘·······/˘··· |
| A languor, fire-shotted, runs through me, and I crush the scarf down | 15 | ·/˘//˘········· |
| on my face, | 3 | ··· |
| And gulp in the warmth and the blueness, and my eyes swim | 13 | ·······/˘···· |
| in cool-tinted heavens. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Around me are columns of marble, and a diapered, sun-flickered pavement. | 17 | ····/˘·/˘··/·/˘/˘ |
| Rose-leaves blow and patter against it. Below the stone steps a lute tinkles. | 18 | ····/˘··········/˘ |
| A jar of green jade throws its shadow half over the floor. A big-bellied | 17 | ·······/·······/˘ |
| Frog hops through the sunlight and plops in the gold-bubbled water of a basin, | 19 | ····/······/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Sunk in the black and white marble. The west wind has lifted a scarf | 16 | ······/˘····/˘·· |
| On the seat close beside me, the blue of it is a violent outrage of colour. | 20 | ····˘/·······/˘/··/˘ |
| She draws it more closely about her, and it ripples beneath | 15 | ····/˘·····/˘·· |
| her slight stirring. | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Her kisses are sharp buds of fire; and I burn back against her, a jewel | 17 | ·/˘····/········/ |
| Hard and white; a stalked, flaming flower; till I break to | 12 | ·····/˘/···· |
| a handful of cinders, | 6 | ·/··/˘ |
| And open my eyes to the scarf, shining blue in the afternoon sunshine. | 18 | ·/˘·····/˘····˘//· |
| How loud clocks can tick when a room is empty, and one is alone! | 16 | ·········/˘···˘/ |
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.