Marvoil
Arnaut of Marvoil, a troubadour, date 1170-1200.The Countess (in her own right) of Burlatz, and of Beziers, beingthe wife ofThe Vicomte of Beziers.Alfonso IV of Aragon.Tibors of Mont-Ausier. For fuller mention of her see the"razos" on Bertran of Born. She is contemporary with theother persons, but I have no strict warrant for dragging her nameinto this particular affair.
Nel biancheggiar di delicata rosaRisplendono i coloriD' occidentali fioriPrima che l'alba, in esultanza ascosa
Voglia baciarli. Ed aleggiar io sentoQual su dolce lïutoNel lor linguaggio mutoFiorir di gioia e tocco di tormento
Cosi un' arcano senso di languore,Le sue sognanti ditaFanno scordar la vitaSpirando in verso tutto pien d'amore....
Senza morir: chè sanno i suoni alati,Vedendo il nostro stato,Ch' è dal dolor turbato,Di lasciarci, morendo, desolati.
Words in this poem
- arnaut n.
- An inhabitant of Albania and neighboring mountainous regions, specif. one serving as a soldier in the Turkish army.
- countess n.
- The wife of an earl in the British peerage, or of a count in the Continental nobility; also, a lady possessed of the same dignity in her own right. See the Note under Count. [F. comtesse. See Count a nobleman.]
- dolce adv.
- Softly; sweetly; with soft, smooth, and delicate execution. [It., fr. L. dulcis sweet, soft.]
- verso n.
- The reverse, or left-hand, page of a book or a folded sheet of paper; -- opposed to recto. [L. versus, p. p. of vertere to turn: cf. F. verso.]
- senza prep.
- Without; as, senza stromenti, without instruments. [It.]
- dolor n.
- Pain; grief; distress; anguish. [OE. dolor, dolur, dolour, F. douleur, L. dolor, fr. dolere. See 1st Dole.]
- morendo a.
- Dying; a gradual decrescendo at the end of a strain or cadence. [It.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Marvoil is in the public domain. This text is taken from Personae, Project Gutenberg ebook #41162; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ezra Pound, Marvoil, in Personae (1909), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41162, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/pound-personae/marvoil-2.html, id L01230.
Form and metre
Marvoil is 25 lines in 5 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABBA, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 60% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 -----AA-- — · being · of · beziers · aragon · theA · theA · name · affair
- 2 -AA- rosa · coloriA · fioriA · ascosa
- 3 ABBA sentoA · lïutoB · mutoB · tormentoA
- 5 ABBA alatiA · statoB · turbatoB · desolatiA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Arnaut of Marvoil, a troubadour, date 1170-1200. | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| The Countess (in her own right) of Burlatz, and of Beziers, being | 15 | ·/˘···········/ |
| the wife of | 3 | ··· |
| The Vicomte of Beziers. | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Alfonso IV of Aragon. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Tibors of Mont-Ausier. For fuller mention of her see the | 15 | ·······/˘/˘···· |
| "razos" on Bertran of Born. She is contemporary with the | 16 | /˘·/˘····˘/˘·˘·· |
| other persons, but I have no strict warrant for dragging her name | 16 | /˘/˘·····/˘·/˘·· |
| into this particular affair. | 9 | ···˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Nel biancheggiar di delicata rosa | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Risplendono i colori | 8 | ········ |
| D' occidentali fiori | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Prima che l'alba, in esultanza ascosa | 13 | /˘··········· |
| Voglia baciarli. Ed aleggiar io sento | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| Qual su dolce lïuto | 6 | ··/··· |
| Nel lor linguaggio muto | 7 | ······· |
| Fiorir di gioia e tocco di tormento | 12 | ···/˘·/˘···· |
| Cosi un' arcano senso di languore, | 11 | /˘········· |
| Le sue sognanti dita | 7 | ······· |
| Fanno scordar la vita | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Spirando in verso tutto pien d'amore.... | 13 | ····/˘····˘/˘ |
| Senza morir: chè sanno i suoni alati, | 13 | /˘··········· |
| Vedendo il nostro stato, | 8 | ········ |
| Ch' è dal dolor turbato, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Di lasciarci, morendo, desolati. | 11 | ····˘/˘···· |
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.