Paris I

Alan Seeger (1888–1916) · 1916

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 36 lines · from Poems

First, London, for its myriads; for its height,Manhattan heaped in towering stalagmite;But Paris for the smoothness of the pathsThat lead the heart unto the heart's delight. . . .

Fair loiterer on the threshold of those daysWhen there's no lovelier prize the world displaysThan, having beauty and your twenty years,You have the means to conquer and the ways,

And coming where the crossroads separateAnd down each vista glories and wonders wait,Crowning each path with pinnacles so fairYou know not which to choose, and hesitate --

Oh, go to Paris. . . . In the midday gloomOf some old quarter take a little roomThat looks off over Paris and its towersFrom Saint Gervais round to the Emperor's Tomb, --

So high that you can hear a mating doveCroon down the chimney from the roof above,See Notre Dame and know how sweet it isTo wake between Our Lady and our love.

And have a little balcony to bringFair plants to fill with verdure and blossoming,That sparrows seek, to feed from pretty hands,And swallows circle over in the Spring.

There of an evening you shall sit at easeIn the sweet month of flowering chestnut-trees,There with your little darling in your arms,Your pretty dark-eyed Manon or Louise.

And looking out over the domes and towersThat chime the fleeting quarters and the hours,While the bright clouds banked eastward back of themBlush in the sunset, pink as hawthorn flowers,

You cannot fail to think, as I have done,Some of life's ends attained, so you be oneWho measures life's attainment by the hoursThat Joy has rescued from oblivion.

Words in this poem

towering a.: Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
stalagmite n.: A deposit more or less resembling an inverted stalactite, formed by calcareous water dropping on the floors of caverns; hence, a similar deposit of other material. [Gr. stalagmite.]
loiterer n.: One who loiters; an idler.
vista n.: A view; especially, a view through or between intervening objects, as trees; a view or prospect through an avenue, or the like; hence, the trees or other objects that form the avenue. [It., sight, view, fr. vedere, p. p. visto, veduto, to see, fr. L. videre, visum. See View, Vision.]
croon v. i.: To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain.
chimney n.: A fireplace or hearth. Sir W. Raleigh.
notre n.: One who takes notice.
dame n.: A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
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,]
chime n.: The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
oblivion n.: The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Paris I is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #617; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Alan Seeger, Paris I, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/paris-i.html, id L12929.

Form and metre

Paris I is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 44% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in heroic couplets, 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-A height^A · stalagmite^A · paths · delight^A
2 AA-A days^A · displays^A · years · ways^A
3 AA-A separate^A · wait^A · fair · hesitate^A
4 AA-A gloom^A · room^A · towers · tomb^A
5 AA-A dove^A · above^A · is · love^A
6 AA-A bring^A · blossoming^A · hands · spring^A
7 AA-A ease^A · trees^A · arms · louise^A
8 AA-A towers^A · hours^A · them · flowers^A
9 AA-A done^A · one^A · hours · oblivion^A

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
First, London, for its myriads; for its height,	10	·/˘··/˘···
Manhattan heaped in towering stalagmite;	11	˘/˘··/˘˘˘/˘
But Paris for the smoothness of the paths	10	·/˘··/˘···
That lead the heart unto the heart's delight. . . .	10	········˘/
Fair loiterer on the threshold of those days	11	·/˘˘··/····
When there's no lovelier prize the world displays	11	·········˘/
Than, having beauty and your twenty years,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
You have the means to conquer and the ways,	10	·····/˘···
And coming where the crossroads separate	10	·/˘··/·/˘·
And down each vista glories and wonders wait,	11	···/˘/˘·/˘·
Crowning each path with pinnacles so fair	10	/˘···/˘˘··
You know not which to choose, and hesitate --	10	·······/˘·
Oh, go to Paris. . . . In the midday gloom	10	···/˘··/··
Of some old quarter take a little room	10	···/˘··/˘·
That looks off over Paris and its towers	11	·····/˘··/˘
From Saint Gervais round to the Emperor's Tomb, --	10	··˘/···/˘·
So high that you can hear a mating dove	10	·······/˘·
Croon down the chimney from the roof above,	10	···/˘·····
See Notre Dame and know how sweet it is	10	·/˘·······
To wake between Our Lady and our love.	10	····//˘·/·
And have a little balcony to bring	10	···/˘/˘˘··
Fair plants to fill with verdure and blossoming,	11	·····/˘·/˘˘
That sparrows seek, to feed from pretty hands,	10	·/˘····/˘·
And swallows circle over in the Spring.	10	·/˘/˘·····
There of an evening you shall sit at ease	10	···/˘·····
In the sweet month of flowering chestnut-trees,	10	·····/˘/··
There with your little darling in your arms,	10	···/˘/˘···
Your pretty dark-eyed Manon or Louise.	10	·/˘··˘/·˘/
And looking out over the domes and towers	11	·/˘······/˘
That chime the fleeting quarters and the hours,	11	···/˘/˘··/˘
While the bright clouds banked eastward back of them	10	·····/˘···
Blush in the sunset, pink as hawthorn flowers,	11	···/···/·/˘
You cannot fail to think, as I have done,	10	·/˘·······
Some of life's ends attained, so you be one	10	····˘/····
Who measures life's attainment by the hours	11	·/˘·˘/˘··/˘
That Joy has rescued from oblivion.	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.

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