Triolet
When the heart is a cupIn the body low lying,And wine, drop by dropFalls into that cup
From somewhere high up,It is good to be dyingWith the heart for a cupIn the body low lying.
Words in this poem
- somewhere adv.
- In some place unknown or not specified; in one place or another.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Triolet is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poetical works of George MacDonald in two volumes — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #9984; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George MacDonald, Triolet, in A Microcosm in Terza Rima, and Other Poems (1893), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9984, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/macdonald-poems/triolet-3.html, id L22435.
Form and metre
Triolet is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 cupA · lying · drop · cupA
- 2 ABAB upA · dyingB · cupA · lyingB
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When the heart is a cup | 6 | ······ |
| In the body low lying, | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| And wine, drop by drop | 5 | ····· |
| Falls into that cup | 5 | ····· |
| From somewhere high up, | 5 | ·/··· |
| It is good to be dying | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With the heart for a cup | 6 | ······ |
| In the body low lying. | 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.