Archaic Torso of Apollo
We cannot fathom his mysterious head,Through the veiled eyes no flickering ray is sent:But from his torso gleaming light is shedAs from a candelabrum; inward bentHis glance there glows and lingers. OtherwiseThe round breast would not blind you with its grace,Nor could the soft-curved circle of the thighsSteal to the arc whence issues a new race.Nor could this stark and stunted stone displayVibrance beneath the shoulders heavy bar,Nor shine like fur upon a beast of prey,Nor break forth from its lines like a great star--There is no spot that does not bind you fastAnd transport you back, back to a far past.
Words in this poem
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- torso n.
- The human body, as distinguished from the head and limbs; in sculpture, the trunk of a statue, mutilated of head and limbs; as, the torso of Hercules. [It. torso, probably fr. L. thyrsus a stalk, stem, thyrsus, Gr. torso, turso, a stalk, stem, G. dorsche a cabbage stalk. Cf. Thyrsus, Truss.]
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Archaic Torso of Apollo is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, translated by Jessie Lemont, with an introduction by H.T. (New York: Tobias A. Wright, 1918), Project Gutenberg ebook #38594, the Jessie Lemont translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rainer Maria Rilke, Archaic Torso of Apollo, in Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38594, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rilke-poems-lemont/archaic-torso-of-apollo.html, id L27761.
Form and metre
Archaic Torso of Apollo is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG headA · sentB · shedA · bentB · otherwiseC · graceD · thighsC · raceD · displayE · barF · preyE · starF · fastG · pastG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| We cannot fathom his mysterious head, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Through the veiled eyes no flickering ray is sent: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But from his torso gleaming light is shed | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| As from a candelabrum; inward bent | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His glance there glows and lingers. Otherwise | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The round breast would not blind you with its grace, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor could the soft-curved circle of the thighs | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Steal to the arc whence issues a new race. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Nor could this stark and stunted stone display | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Vibrance beneath the shoulders heavy bar, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Nor shine like fur upon a beast of prey, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor break forth from its lines like a great star-- | 10 | ·········· |
| There is no spot that does not bind you fast | 10 | ·········· |
| And transport you back, back to a far past. | 10 | ·˘/······· |
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.