Art (Imitated from De Banville and Gautier) III
Take up the sculptor's tool!Becall the dreams that dieTo ruleIn Parian o'er the sky;And kings that not endureIn bronze to re-ascendSecureUntil the world shall end.
Poet, let passion sleepTill with the cosmic rhymeYou keepEternal tone and time,
By rule of hour and flower,By strength of stern restraintAnd powerTo fail and not to faint.
The task is hard to learnWhile all the songs of SpringReturnAlong the blood and sing.
Yet hear--from her deep skies,How Art, for all your pain,Still criesYe must be born again!
Reject the wreath of rose,Take up the crown of thornThat showsTo-night a child is born.
The far immortal faceIn chosen onyx fineEnchase,Delicate line by line.
Strive with Carrara, fightWith Parian, till there stealTo lightApollo's pure profile.
Set the great lucid formFree from its marble tombTo stormThe heights of death and doom.
Take up the sculptor's tool!Recall the gods that dieTo ruleIn Parian o'er the sky,
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- cosmic a.
- Pertaining to the universe, and having special reference to universal law or order, or to the one grand harmonious system of things; hence; harmonious; orderly. [Gr. kosmiko`s of the world, fr. ko`smos: cf. F. cosmique. See Cosmos.]
- enchase v. t.
- To incase or inclose in a border or rim; to surround with an ornamental casing, as a gem with gold; to encircle; to inclose; to adorn. [F. enchâsser; pref. en- (L. in) + châsse box containing relics, frame, case, the same word as caisse case. See 1st Case, and cf. Chase, Encase, Incase.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Art (Imitated from De Banville and Gautier) III is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Alfred Noyes, Art (Imitated from De Banville and Gautier) III, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/art-imitated-from-de-banville-and-gautier-iii.html, id L21393.
Form and metre
Art (Imitated from De Banville and Gautier) III is 44 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABABCDCD toolA · dieB · ruleA · skyB · endureC · ascendD · secureC · endD
- 2 ABAB sleepA · rhymeB · keepA · timeB
- 3 ABAB flowerA · restraintB · powerA · faintB
- 4 ABAB learnA · springB · returnA · singB
- 5 ABAB skiesA · painB · criesA · againB
- 6 ABAB roseA · thornB · showsA · bornB
- 7 -A-A face · fineA · enchase · lineA
- 8 A-A- fightA · steal · lightA · profile
- 9 ABAB formA · tombB · stormA · doomB
- 10 ABAB toolA · dieB · ruleA · skyB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Take up the sculptor's tool! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Becall the dreams that die | 6 | ······ |
| To rule | 2 | ·· |
| In Parian o'er the sky; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| And kings that not endure | 6 | ····˘/ |
| In bronze to re-ascend | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Secure | 2 | ˘/ |
| Until the world shall end. | 6 | ······ |
| Poet, let passion sleep | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Till with the cosmic rhyme | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You keep | 2 | ·· |
| Eternal tone and time, | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| By rule of hour and flower, | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| By strength of stern restraint | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And power | 3 | ·/˘ |
| To fail and not to faint. | 6 | ······ |
| The task is hard to learn | 6 | ······ |
| While all the songs of Spring | 6 | ······ |
| Return | 2 | ˘/ |
| Along the blood and sing. | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Yet hear--from her deep skies, | 6 | ······ |
| How Art, for all your pain, | 6 | ······ |
| Still cries | 2 | ·· |
| Ye must be born again! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Reject the wreath of rose, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Take up the crown of thorn | 6 | ······ |
| That shows | 2 | ·· |
| To-night a child is born. | 6 | ······ |
| The far immortal face | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| In chosen onyx fine | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Enchase, | 2 | ˘/ |
| Delicate line by line. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Strive with Carrara, fight | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With Parian, till there steal | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| To light | 2 | ·· |
| Apollo's pure profile. | 6 | ˘/˘·/· |
| Set the great lucid form | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Free from its marble tomb | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To storm | 2 | ·· |
| The heights of death and doom. | 6 | ······ |
| Take up the sculptor's tool! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Recall the gods that die | 6 | /····· |
| To rule | 2 | ·· |
| In Parian o'er the sky, | 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.