To the One of Fictive Music
Sister and mother and diviner love,And of the sisterhood of the living deadMost near, most clear, and of the clearest bloom,And of the fragrant mothers the most dearAnd queen, and of diviner love the dayAnd flame and summer and sweet fire, no threadOf cloudy silver sprinkles in your gownIts venom of renown, and on your headNo crown is simpler than the simple hair.
Now, of the music summoned by the birthThat separates us from the wind and sea,Yet leaves us in them, until earth becomes,By being so much of the things we are,Gross effigy and simulacrum, noneGives motion to perfection more sereneThan yours, out of our imperfections wrought,Most rare, or ever of more kindred airIn the laborious weaving that you wear.
For so retentive of themselves are menThat music is intensest which proclaimsThe near, the clear, and vaunts the clearest bloom,And of all vigils musing the obscure,That apprehends the most which sees and names,As in your name, an image that is sure,Among the arrant spices of the sun,O bough and bush and scented vine, in whomWe give ourselves our likest issuance.
Yet not too like, yet not so like to beToo near, too clear, saving a little to endowOur feigning with the strange unlike, whence springsThe difference that heavenly pity brings.For this, musician, in your girdle fixedBear other perfumes. On your pale head wearA band entwining, set with fatal stones.Unreal, give back to us what once you gave:The imagination that we spurned and crave.
Words in this poem
- sisterhood n.
- The state or relation of being a sister; the office or duty of a sister. [Sister + hood.]
- simulacrum n.
- A likeness; a semblance; a mock appearance; a sham; -- now usually in a derogatory sense. [L. See Simulate.]
- arrant a.
- Notoriously or preëminently bad; thorough or downright, in a bad sense; shameless; unmitigated; as, an arrant rogue or coward. [OE. erraunt, errant, errand, equiv. to E. errant wandering, which was first applied to vagabonds, as an errant rogue, an errant thief, and hence passed graduall]
- issuance n.
- The act of issuing, or giving out; as, the issuance of an order; the issuance of rations, and the like.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the One of Fictive Music is in the public domain. This text is taken from Harmonium, Project Gutenberg ebook #78743; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Wallace Stevens, To the One of Fictive Music, in Harmonium (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #78743, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/stevens-harmonium/to-the-one-of-fictive-music.html, id L01071.
Form and metre
To the One of Fictive Music is 36 lines in 4 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% 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 -A---A-A- love · deadA · bloom · dear · day · threadA · gown · headA · hair
- 2 -------AA birth · sea · becomes · are · none · serene · wrought · airA · wearA
- 3 -ABCAC-B- men · proclaimsA · bloomB · obscureC · namesA · sureC · sun · whomB · issuance
- 4 --AA---BB be · endow · springsA · bringsA · fixed · wear · stones · gaveB · craveB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sister and mother and diviner love, | 10 | /˘·/˘·˘/˘· |
| And of the sisterhood of the living dead | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Most near, most clear, and of the clearest bloom, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And of the fragrant mothers the most dear | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And queen, and of diviner love the day | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| And flame and summer and sweet fire, no thread | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
| Of cloudy silver sprinkles in your gown | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Its venom of renown, and on your head | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| No crown is simpler than the simple hair. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Now, of the music summoned by the birth | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| That separates us from the wind and sea, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Yet leaves us in them, until earth becomes, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| By being so much of the things we are, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Gross effigy and simulacrum, none | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Gives motion to perfection more serene | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Than yours, out of our imperfections wrought, | 10 | ····/·˘/˘· |
| Most rare, or ever of more kindred air | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In the laborious weaving that you wear. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| For so retentive of themselves are men | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| That music is intensest which proclaims | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| The near, the clear, and vaunts the clearest bloom, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And of all vigils musing the obscure, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| That apprehends the most which sees and names, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| As in your name, an image that is sure, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Among the arrant spices of the sun, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| O bough and bush and scented vine, in whom | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| We give ourselves our likest issuance. | 11 | ··˘˘//··/˘˘ |
| Yet not too like, yet not so like to be | 10 | ·········· |
| Too near, too clear, saving a little to endow | 12 | ····/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Our feigning with the strange unlike, whence springs | 10 | //˘···˘/·· |
| The difference that heavenly pity brings. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘· |
| For this, musician, in your girdle fixed | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Bear other perfumes. On your pale head wear | 10 | ·/˘˘/····· |
| A band entwining, set with fatal stones. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Unreal, give back to us what once you gave: | 10 | ˘/········ |
| The imagination that we spurned and crave. | 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.