Part I
In the spring-time, when the skiesCast off winter's mourning,And bright flowers of every hueEarth's lap are adorning,At the hour when LuciferGives the stars their warning,Phyllis woke, and Flora too,In the early morning.
Both the girls were fain to goForth in sunny weather,For love-laden bosoms throwSleep off like a feather;Then with measured steps and slowTo the fields togetherWent they, seeking pastime new'Mid the flowers and heather.
Both were virgins, both, I ween,Were by birth princesses;Phyllis let her locks flow free,Flora trained her tresses.Not like girls they went, but likeHeavenly holinesses;And their faces shone like dawn'Neath the day's caresses.
Equal beauty, equal birth,These fair maidens mated;Youthful were the years of both,And their minds elated;Yet they were a pair unpaired,Mates by strife unmated;For one loved a clerk, and oneFor a knight was fated.
Naught there was of difference'Twixt them to the seeing,All alike, within without,Seemed in them agreeing;With one garb, one cast of mind,And one mode of being,Only that they could not loveSave with disagreeing.
In the tree-tops overheadA spring breeze was blowing,And the meadow lawns aroundWith green grass were growing;Through the grass a rivuletFrom the hill was flowing,Lively, with a pleasant soundGarrulously going.
That the girls might suffer lessFrom the noon resplendent,Near the stream a spreading pineRose with stem ascendant;Crowned with boughs and leaves aloft,O'er the fields impendent;From all heat on every handAirily defendent.
On the sward the maidens sat,Naught that seat surpasses;Phyllis near the rivulet,Flora 'mid the grasses;Each into the chamber sweetOf her own soul passes,Love divides their thoughts, and woundsWith his shafts the lasses.
Love within the breast of each,Hidden, unsuspected,Lurks and draws forth sighs of griefFrom their hearts dejected:Soon their ruddy cheeks grow pale,Conscious, love-affected;Yet their passion tells no tale,By soft shame protected.
Phyllis now doth overhearFlora softly sighing:Flora with like luck detectsSigh to sigh replying.Thus the girls exchange the game,Each with other vying;Till the truth leaps out at length,Plain beyond denying.
Long this interchange did lastOf mute conversation;All of love-sighs fond and fastWas that dissertation.Love was in their minds, and LoveMade their lips his station;Phyllis then, while Flora smiled,Opened her oration.
"Soldier brave, my love!" she said,"Where is now my Paris?Fights he in the field, or whereIn the wide word tarries?Oh, the soldier's life, I swear,All life's glory carries;Only valour clothed in armsWith Dame Venus marries!"
Words in this poem 16
- flora n.
- The goddess of flowers and spring. [L., the goddess of flowers, from flos, floris, flower. See Flower.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- pastime n.
- That which amuses, and serves to make time pass agreeably; sport; amusement; diversion. [Pass + time: cf. F. passetemps.]
- ween v. i.
- To think; to imagine; to fancy. [OE. wenen, AS. w, fr. w hope, expectation, opinion; akin to D. waan, OFries. w, OS. & OHG. wan, G. wahn delusion, Icel. van hope, expectation, Goth. w, and D. w]
- unpaired a.
- Not paired; not suited or matched.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- clerk n.
- A clergyman or ecclesiastic. [Either OF. clerc, fr. L. clericus a priest, or AS. clerc, cleric, clerk, priest, fr. L. clericus, fr. Gr. Clergy.]
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
- ascendant n.
- Ascent; height; elevation. [F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr. of ascendere.]
- impendent a.
- Impending; threatening. [L. impendens, p. pr. of impendere.]
- airily adv.
- In an airy manner; lightly; gaily; jauntily; fippantly.
- overhear v. t.
- To hear more of (anything) than was intended to be heard; to hear by accident or artifice. [AS. oferhiéran.]
- vying
- a. & n. from Vie.
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Part I is in the public domain. This text is taken from Wine, Women, and Song Mediaeval Latin Students' songs; Now first translated into English verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #18044; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Addington Symonds, Part I, in Wine, Women and Song (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18044, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/symonds-wine-women/part-i.html, id L11835.
Form and metre
Part I is 96 lines in 12 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.6 syllables. 50 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 31% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 -ABA-ABA skies · mourningA · hueB · adorningA · lucifer · warningA · tooB · morningA
- 2 ABABAB-B goA · weatherB · throwA · featherB · slowA · togetherB · new · heatherB
- 3 ---A---A ween · princesses · free · tressesA · like · holinesses · dawn · caressesA
- 4 -A-AAA-A birth · matedA · both · elatedA · unpairedA · unmatedA · one · fatedA
- 5 -A-A-A-A difference · seeingA · without · agreeingA · mind · beingA · love · disagreeingA
- 6 -ABA-ABA overhead · blowingA · aroundB · growingA · rivulet · flowingA · soundB · goingA
- 7 -A-A-A-A less · resplendentA · pine · ascendantA · aloft · impendentA · hand · defendentA
- 8 -A-A-A-A sat · surpassesA · rivulet · grassesA · sweet · passesA · wounds · lassesA
- 9 -A-ABABA each · unsuspectedA · grief · dejectedA · paleB · affectedA · taleB · protectedA
- 10 -A-A-A-A overhear · sighingA · detects · replyingA · game · vyingA · length · denyingA
- 11 ABAB-B-B lastA · conversationB · fastA · dissertationB · love · stationB · smiled · orationB
- 12 --ABAB-B said · paris · whereA · tarriesB · swearA · carriesB · arms · marriesB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the spring-time, when the skies | 7 | ······· |
| Cast off winter's mourning, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| And bright flowers of every hue | 7 | ··/·/˘· |
| Earth's lap are adorning, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| At the hour when Lucifer | 8 | ··/˘·/˘˘ |
| Gives the stars their warning, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Phyllis woke, and Flora too, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| In the early morning. | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Both the girls were fain to go | 7 | ······· |
| Forth in sunny weather, | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| For love-laden bosoms throw | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Sleep off like a feather; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Then with measured steps and slow | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To the fields together | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Went they, seeking pastime new | 7 | ··/˘/·· |
| 'Mid the flowers and heather. | 7 | ··/˘·/˘ |
| Both were virgins, both, I ween, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Were by birth princesses; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Phyllis let her locks flow free, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Flora trained her tresses. | 7 | /˘·˘·/˘ |
| Not like girls they went, but like | 7 | ······· |
| Heavenly holinesses; | 7 | /˘˘/˘˘˘ |
| And their faces shone like dawn | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'Neath the day's caresses. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Equal beauty, equal birth, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| These fair maidens mated; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Youthful were the years of both, | 7 | /˘····· |
| And their minds elated; | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Yet they were a pair unpaired, | 7 | ······· |
| Mates by strife unmated; | 6 | ······ |
| For one loved a clerk, and one | 7 | ······· |
| For a knight was fated. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Naught there was of difference | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| 'Twixt them to the seeing, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| All alike, within without, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Seemed in them agreeing; | 7 | ·˘··˘/˘ |
| With one garb, one cast of mind, | 7 | ······· |
| And one mode of being, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Only that they could not love | 7 | /˘····· |
| Save with disagreeing. | 6 | ··˘˘/˘ |
| In the tree-tops overhead | 7 | ····/˘/ |
| A spring breeze was blowing, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| And the meadow lawns around | 7 | ··/···· |
| With green grass were growing; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Through the grass a rivulet | 7 | ····/˘˘ |
| From the hill was flowing, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Lively, with a pleasant sound | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Garrulously going. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| That the girls might suffer less | 7 | ····/˘· |
| From the noon resplendent, | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Near the stream a spreading pine | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Rose with stem ascendant; | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Crowned with boughs and leaves aloft, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| O'er the fields impendent; | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| From all heat on every hand | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Airily defendent. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| On the sward the maidens sat, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Naught that seat surpasses; | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Phyllis near the rivulet, | 7 | /˘··/˘˘ |
| Flora 'mid the grasses; | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Each into the chamber sweet | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Of her own soul passes, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Love divides their thoughts, and wounds | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| With his shafts the lasses. | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Love within the breast of each, | 7 | ······· |
| Hidden, unsuspected, | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Lurks and draws forth sighs of grief | 7 | ······· |
| From their hearts dejected: | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Soon their ruddy cheeks grow pale, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Conscious, love-affected; | 6 | /˘·˘/˘ |
| Yet their passion tells no tale, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| By soft shame protected. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Phyllis now doth overhear | 7 | /˘··/˘/ |
| Flora softly sighing: | 6 | /˘/˘/˘ |
| Flora with like luck detects | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Sigh to sigh replying. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Thus the girls exchange the game, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Each with other vying; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Till the truth leaps out at length, | 7 | ······· |
| Plain beyond denying. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Long this interchange did last | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Of mute conversation; | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| All of love-sighs fond and fast | 7 | ······· |
| Was that dissertation. | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| Love was in their minds, and Love | 7 | ······· |
| Made their lips his station; | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Phyllis then, while Flora smiled, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Opened her oration. | 7 | /˘˘·˘/˘ |
| "Soldier brave, my love!" she said, | 7 | /˘····· |
| "Where is now my Paris? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Fights he in the field, or where | 7 | ······· |
| In the wide word tarries? | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Oh, the soldier's life, I swear, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| All life's glory carries; | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
| Only valour clothed in arms | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| With Dame Venus marries!" | 6 | ··/˘/˘ |
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.