Prelude
Dante saw the great white RoseHalf unclose;Dante saw the golden beesGathering from its heart of goldSweets untold,Love's most honeyed harmonies.
Dante saw the threefold bowStrangely glow,Saw the Rainbow Vision rise,And the Flame that wore the crownBending downO'er the flowers of Paradise.
Something yet remained, it seems;In his dreamsDante missed--as angels mayIn their white and burning bliss--Some small kissMortals meet with every day.
Italy in splendour faints'Neath her saints!O, her great Madonnas, too,Faces calm as any moonGlows in June,Hooded with the night's deep blue!
What remains? I pass and hearEverywhere,Ay, or see in silent eyesJust the song she still would singThus--a-swingO'er the cradle where He lies.
Words in this poem
- untold a.
- Not told; not related; not revealed; as, untold secrets.
- honeyed a.
- Covered with honey.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prelude 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, Prelude, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/prelude-3.html, id L21489.
Form and metre
Prelude is 30 lines in 5 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AABCCB roseA · uncloseA · beesB · goldC · untoldC · harmoniesB
- 2 AA-BB- bowA · glowA · rise · crownB · downB · paradise
- 3 AABCCB seemsA · dreamsA · mayB · blissC · kissC · dayB
- 4 --ABBA faints · saints · tooA · moonB · juneB · blueA
- 5 AABCCB hearA · everywhereA · eyesB · singC · swingC · liesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dante saw the great white Rose | 7 | /˘····· |
| Half unclose; | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Dante saw the golden bees | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Gathering from its heart of gold | 7 | /˘····· |
| Sweets untold, | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Love's most honeyed harmonies. | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Dante saw the threefold bow | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| Strangely glow, | 3 | /˘· |
| Saw the Rainbow Vision rise, | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| And the Flame that wore the crown | 7 | ······· |
| Bending down | 3 | /˘· |
| O'er the flowers of Paradise. | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Something yet remained, it seems; | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| In his dreams | 3 | ··· |
| Dante missed--as angels may | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| In their white and burning bliss-- | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Some small kiss | 3 | ··· |
| Mortals meet with every day. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Italy in splendour faints | 7 | /˘˘·/˘· |
| 'Neath her saints! | 3 | ··· |
| O, her great Madonnas, too, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| Faces calm as any moon | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Glows in June, | 3 | ··· |
| Hooded with the night's deep blue! | 7 | /˘····· |
| What remains? I pass and hear | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Everywhere, | 3 | /˘· |
| Ay, or see in silent eyes | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Just the song she still would sing | 7 | ······· |
| Thus--a-swing | 3 | ··· |
| O'er the cradle where He lies. | 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.