Vivien
Her eyes under their lashes were blue poolsFringed round with lilies; her bright hair unfurledClothed her as sunshine clothes the summer world.Her robes were gauzes--gold and green and gules,All furry things flocked round her, from her handNibbling their foods and fawning at her feet.Two peacocks watched her where she made her seatBeside a fountain in Broceliande.Sometimes she sang. . . . Whoever heard forgotErrand and aim, and knights at noontide here,Riding from fabulous gestes beyond the seas,Would follow, tranced, and seek . . . and find her not . . .But wake that night, lost, by some woodland mere,Powdered with stars and rimmed with silent trees.
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- gules n.
- The tincture red, indicated in seals and engraved figures of escutcheons by parallel vertical lines. Hence, used poetically for a red color or that which is red. [OE. goules, F. gueules, the same word as gueule throat, OF. gole, goule, L. gula. So named from the red color of the throat. See Gullet, and cf. Gula.]
- furry a.
- Covered with fur; dressed in fur. [From Fur.]
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vivien 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, Vivien, in Poems (1916), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #617, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/seeger-poems/vivien.html, id L12952.
Form and metre
Vivien is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACDDCEFGEFG. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 36% 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 ABBACDDCEFGEFG poolsA · unfurledB · worldB · gulesA · handC · feetD · seatD · broceliandeC · forgotE · hereF · seasG · notE · mereF · treesG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Her eyes under their lashes were blue pools | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Fringed round with lilies; her bright hair unfurled | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Clothed her as sunshine clothes the summer world. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Her robes were gauzes--gold and green and gules, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All furry things flocked round her, from her hand | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Nibbling their foods and fawning at her feet. | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Two peacocks watched her where she made her seat | 10 | ·/········ |
| Beside a fountain in Broceliande. | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| Sometimes she sang. . . . Whoever heard forgot | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Errand and aim, and knights at noontide here, | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Riding from fabulous gestes beyond the seas, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Would follow, tranced, and seek . . . and find her not . . . | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But wake that night, lost, by some woodland mere, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Powdered with stars and rimmed with silent trees. | 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.