Maddalo, a Courtier, Malpiglio, a Poet, Pigna, a Minister, Albano, an Usher
MADDALO:No access to the Duke! You have not saidThat the Count Maddalo would speak with him?
PIGNA:Did you inform his Grace that Signor PignaWaits with state papers for his signature?
MALPIGLIO:The Lady Leonora cannot knowThat I have written a sonnet to her fame,In which I ... Venus and Adonis.You should not take my gold and serve me not.
ALBANO:In truth I told her, and she smiled and said,'If I am Venus, thou, coy Poesy,Art the Adonis whom I love, and heThe Erymanthian boar that wounded him.'O trust to me, Signor Malpiglio,Those nods and smiles were favours worth the zechin.
MALPIGLIO:The words are twisted in some double senseThat I reach not: the smiles fell not on me.
PIGNA:How are the Duke and Duchess occupied?
ALBANO:Buried in some strange talk. The Duke was leaning,His finger on his brow, his lips unclosed.The Princess sate within the window-seat,And so her face was hid; but on her kneeHer hands were clasped, veined, and pale as snow,And quivering--young Tasso, too, was there.
MADDALO:Thou seest on whom from thine own worshipped heavenThou drawest down smiles--they did not rain on thee.
MALPIGLIO:Would they were parching lightnings for his sakeOn whom they fell!
Words in this poem
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- signor n.
- Sir; Mr; -- a title of address or respect among the Italians. [It. See Seignior.]
- sonnet n.
- A short poem, -- usually amatory. [F., fr. It. sonetto, fr. suono a sound, a song, fr. L. sonus a sound. See Sound noise.]
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- duchess n.
- The wife or widow of a duke; also, a lady who has the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. [F. duchesse, fr. duc duke.]
- unclosed a.
- Not separated by inclosures; open. Clarendon. [Pref. un- not + closed.]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- parching a.
- Scorching; burning; drying.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Maddalo, a Courtier, Malpiglio, a Poet, Pigna, a Minister, Albano, an Usher is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #4798; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Maddalo, a Courtier, Malpiglio, a Poet, Pigna, a Minister, Albano, an Usher, in The Complete Poetical Works, Volume II (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/maddalo-a-courtier-malpiglio-a-poet-pigna-a-minister-albano-.html, id L16338.
Form and metre
Maddalo, a Courtier, Malpiglio, a Poet, Pigna, a Minister, Albano, an Usher is 36 lines in 9 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
- 2 AA- pignaA · pignaA · signature
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MADDALO: | 3 | ··· |
| No access to the Duke! You have not said | 10 | ·/········ |
| That the Count Maddalo would speak with him? | 10 | ·········· |
| PIGNA: | 2 | ·· |
| Did you inform his Grace that Signor Pigna | 11 | ··˘/···/˘·· |
| Waits with state papers for his signature? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| MALPIGLIO: | 3 | ··· |
| The Lady Leonora cannot know | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| That I have written a sonnet to her fame, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| In which I ... Venus and Adonis. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| You should not take my gold and serve me not. | 10 | ·········· |
| ALBANO: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| In truth I told her, and she smiled and said, | 10 | ·········· |
| 'If I am Venus, thou, coy Poesy, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Art the Adonis whom I love, and he | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The Erymanthian boar that wounded him.' | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O trust to me, Signor Malpiglio, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Those nods and smiles were favours worth the zechin. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| MALPIGLIO: | 3 | ··· |
| The words are twisted in some double sense | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That I reach not: the smiles fell not on me. | 10 | ·········· |
| PIGNA: | 2 | ·· |
| How are the Duke and Duchess occupied? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| ALBANO: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Buried in some strange talk. The Duke was leaning, | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| His finger on his brow, his lips unclosed. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The Princess sate within the window-seat, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And so her face was hid; but on her knee | 10 | ·········· |
| Her hands were clasped, veined, and pale as snow, | 10 | ····˘····· |
| And quivering--young Tasso, too, was there. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/···· |
| MADDALO: | 3 | ··· |
| Thou seest on whom from thine own worshipped heaven | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Thou drawest down smiles--they did not rain on thee. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| MALPIGLIO: | 3 | ··· |
| Would they were parching lightnings for his sake | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| On whom they fell! | 4 | ···· |
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.