Laurel · John Addington Symonds · Wine, Women and Song

The Confession of Golias

John Addington Symonds (1840–1893) · 1884

trochaic tetrameter · 200 lines · from Wine, Women and Song

Boiling in my spirit's veinsWith fierce indignation,From my bitterness of soulSprings self-revelation:Framed am I of flimsy stuff,Fit for levitation,Like a thin leaf which the windScatters from its station.

While it is the wise man's partWith deliberationOn a rock to base his heart'sPermanent foundation,With a running river IFind my just equation,Which beneath the self-same skyHath no habitation.

Carried am I like a shipLeft without a sailor,Like a bird that through the airFlies where tempests hale her;Chains and fetters hold me not,Naught avails a jailer;Still I find my fellows out,Toper, gamester, railer.

To my mind all gravityIs a grave subjection;Sweeter far than honey areJokes and free affection.All that Venus bids me do,Do I with erection,For she ne'er in heart of manDwelt with dull dejection.

Down the broad road do I run,As the way of youth is;Snare myself in sin, and ne'erThink where faith and truth is;Eager far for pleasure moreThan soul's health, the sooth is,For this flesh of mine I care,Seek not ruth where ruth is.

Prelate, most discreet of priests,Grant me absolution!Dear's the death whereof I die,Sweet my dissolution;For my heart is wounded byBeauty's soft suffusion;All the girls I come not nigh,Mine are in illusion.

'Tis most arduous to makeNature's self surrender;Seeing girls, to blush and bePurity's defender!We young men our longings ne'erShall to stern law render,Or preserve our fancies fromBodies smooth and tender.

Who, when into fire he falls,Keeps himself from burning?Who within Pavia's wallsFame of chaste is earning?Venus with her finger callsYouths at every turning,Snares them with her eyes, and thrallsWith her amorous yearning.

If you brought HippolitusTo Pavia Sunday,He'd not be HippolitusOn the following Monday;Venus there keeps holidayEvery day as one day;'Mid these towers in no tower dwellsVenus Verecunda.

In the second place I ownTo the vice of gaming:Cold indeed outside I seem,Yet my soul is flaming:But when once the dice-box hathStripped me to my shaming,Make I songs and verses fitFor the world's acclaiming.

In the third place, I will speakOf the tavern's pleasure;For I never found nor findThere the least displeasure;Nor shall find it till I greetAngels without measure,Singing requiems for the soulsIn eternal leisure.

In the public-house to dieIs my resolution;Let wine to my lips be nighAt life's dissolution:That will make the angels cry,With glad elocution,"Grant this toper, God on high,Grace and absolution!"

With the cup the soul lights up,Inspirations flicker;Nectar lifts the soul on highWith its heavenly ichor:To my lips a sounder tasteHath the tavern's liquorThan the wine a village clerkWaters for the vicar.

Nature gives to every manSome gift serviceable;Write I never could nor canHungry at the table;Fasting, any stripling toVanquish me is able;Hunger, thirst, I liken toDeath that ends the fable.

Nature gives to every manGifts as she is willing;I compose my verses whenGood wine I am swilling,Wine the best for jolly guestJolly hosts are filling;From such wine rare fancies fineFlow like dews distilling.

Such my verse is wont to beAs the wine I swallow;No ripe thoughts enliven meWhile my stomach's hollow;Hungry wits on hungry lipsLike a shadow follow,But when once I'm in my cups,I can beat Apollo.

Never to my spirit yetFlew poetic visionUntil first my belly hadPlentiful provision;Let but Bacchus in the brainTake a strong position,Then comes Phoebus flowing inWith a fine precision.

There are poets, worthy men,Shrink from public places,And in lurking-hole or denHide their pallid faces;There they study, sweat, and wooPallas and the Graces,But bring nothing forth to viewWorth the girls' embraces.

Fasting, thirsting, toil the bards,Swift years flying o'er them;Shun the strife of open life,Tumults of the forum;They, to sing some deathless thing,Lest the world ignore them,Die the death, expend their breath,Drowned in dull decorum.

Lo! my frailties I've betrayed,Shown you every token,Told you what your servitorsHave against me spoken;But of those men each and allLeave their sins unspoken,Though they play, enjoy to-day,Scorn their pledges broken.

Now within the audience-roomOf this blessed prelate,Sent to hunt out vice, and fromHearts of men expel it;Let him rise, nor spare the bard,Cast at him a pellet;He whose heart knows not crime's smart,Show my sin and tell it!

I have uttered openlyAll I knew that shamed me,And have spued the poison forthThat so long defamed me;Of my old ways I repent,New life hath reclaimed me;God beholds the heart--'twas manViewed the face and blamed me.

Goodness now hath won my love,I am wroth with vices;Made a new man in my mind,Lo, my soul arises!Like a babe new milk I drink--Milk for me suffices,Lest my heart should longer beFilled with vain devices.

Thou Elect of fair Cologne,Listen to my pleading!Spurn not thou the penitent;See, his heart is bleeding!Give me penance! what is dueFor my faults exceedingI will bear with willing cheer,All thy precepts heeding.

Lo, the lion, king of beasts,Spares the meek and lowly;Toward submissive creatures heTames his anger wholly.Do the like, ye powers of earth,Temporal and holy!Bitterness is more than's rightWhen 'tis bitter solely.

Words in this poem 32

levitation n.: Lightness; buoyancy; act of making light. Paley. [L. levis light in weight.]
jailer n.: The keeper of a jail or prison. [OE. jailer, gailer, OF. geolier, F. geôlier. See Jail.]
gamester n.: A merry, frolicsome person. [Game + -ster.]
railer n.: One who rails; one who scoffs, insults, censures, or reproaches with opprobrious language.
dejection n.: A casting down; depression. Hallywell. [L. dejectio a casting down: cf. F. déjection.]
sooth a.: True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
ruth n.: Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
discreet a.: Possessed of discernment, especially in avoiding error or evil, and in the adaptation of means to ends; prudent; sagacious; judicious; not rash or heedless; cautious. [F. discret, L. discretus separated (whence the meaning reserved, prudent), p. p. of discernere. See Discern, and cf. Discrete.]
whereof adv.: Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
suffusion n.: The act or process of suffusing, or state of being suffused; an overspreading. [L. suffusio: cf. F. suffusion.]
arduous a.: Steep and lofty, in a literal sense; hard to climb. [L. arduus steep, high; akin to Ir. ard high, height.]
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,]
earning n.: That which is earned; wages gained by work or services; money earned; -- used commonly in the plural.
elocution n.: Utterance by speech. [L. elocutio, fr. eloqui, elocutus, to speak out: cf. F. élocution. See Eloquent.]
flicker v. i.: To flutter; to flap the wings without flying. [OE. flikeren, flekeren, to flutter, AS. flicerian, flicorian, cf. D. flikkeren to sparkle. Flacker.]
ichor n.: An ethereal fluid that supplied the place of blood in the veins of the gods. [NL., fr. Gr. ichor.]
sounder n.: One who, or that which; sounds; specifically, an instrument used in telegraphy in place of a register, the communications being read by sound.
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.]
stripling n.: A youth in the state of adolescence, or just passing from boyhood to manhood; a lad. [Dim. of strip; as if a small strip from the main stock or steam.]
liken v. t.: To allege, or think, to be like; to represent as like; to compare; as, to liken life to a pilgrimage. [OE. liknen. See Like, a.]
phoebus n.: Apollo; the sun god.
pallas n.: Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
forum n.: A market place or public place in Rome, where causes were judicially tried, and orations delivered to the people. [L.; akin to foris, foras, out of doors. See Foreign.]
deathless a.: Not subject to death, destruction, or extinction; immortal; undying; imperishable; as, deathless beings; deathless fame.
ignore v. t.: To be ignorant of or not acquainted with. [L. ignorare; pref. in- not + the root of gnarus knowing, noscere to become acquainted with. See Know, and cf. Narrate.]
pellet v.: To form into small balls.
repent a.: Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
wroth a.: Full of wrath; angry; incensed; much exasperated; wrathful. [OE. wroth, wrap, AS. wraedh wroth, crooked, bad; akin to wriedhan to writhe, and to OS. wreedhangry, D. wreed cruel, OHG. reid twisted, Icel. reiedhr angry, Dan]
babe n.: An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
cologne n.: A perfumed liquid, composed of alcohol and certain aromatic oils, used in the toilet; -- called also cologne water and eau de cologne. [Originally made in Cologne, the French name of Köln, a city in Germany.]
spurn v. t.: To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]

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

About this text

The Confession of Golias 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, The Confession of Golias, in Wine, Women and Song (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18044, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/symonds-wine-women/the-confession-of-golias.html, id L11811.

Form and metre

The Confession of Golias is 200 lines in 25 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. 87 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 36% 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 -A-A-A-A veins · indignation^A · soul · revelation^A · stuff · levitation^A · wind · station^A
2 -A-AB-BA part · deliberation^A · heart's · foundation^A · i^B · equation · sky^B · habitation^A
3 -A---A-A ship · sailor^A · air · her · not · jailer^A · out · railer^A
4 -A-A-AAA gravity · subjection^A · are · affection^A · do · erection^A · man^A · dejection^A
5 -ABA-ABA run · is^A · ne'er^B · is^A · more · is^A · care^B · is^A
6 -ABABCBC priests · absolution^A · die^B · dissolution^A · by^B · suffusion^C · nigh^B · illusion^C
7 -A-A-A-A make · surrender^A · be · defender^A · ne'er · render^A · from · tender^A
8 ABABABAB falls^A · burning^B · walls^A · earning^B · calls^A · turning^B · thralls^A · yearning^B
9 ABABBB-- hippolitus^A · sunday^B · hippolitus^A · monday^B · holiday^B · day^B · dwells · verecunda
10 -A-A-A-A own · gaming^A · seem · flaming^A · hath · shaming^A · fit · acclaiming^A
11 -A-A-A-A speak · pleasure^A · find · displeasure^A · greet · measure^A · souls · leisure^A
12 ABABABAB die^A · resolution^B · nigh^A · dissolution^B · cry^A · elocution^B · high^A · absolution^B
13 -A---A-A up · flicker^A · high · ichor · taste · liquor^A · clerk · vicar^A
14 A-ABCBCB man^A · serviceable · can^A · table^B · to^C · able^B · to^C · fable^B
15 -A-A-A-A man · willing^A · when · swilling^A · guest · filling^A · fine · distilling^A
16 ABAB-B-B be^A · swallow^B · me^A · hollow^B · lips · follow^B · cups · apollo^B
17 -A-AAAAA yet · vision^A · had · provision^A · brain^A · position^A · in^A · precision^A
18 ABABCBCB men^A · places^B · den^A · faces^B · woo^C · graces^B · view^C · embraces^B
19 -A-B-A-B bards · them^A · life · forum^B · thing · them^A · breath · decorum^B
20 -A-A-A-A betrayed · token^A · servitors · spoken^A · all · unspoken^A · day · broken^A
21 -A-A-A-A room · prelate^A · from · it^A · bard · pellet^A · smart · it^A
22 -A-A-A-A openly · me^A · forth · me^A · repent · me^A · man · me^A
23 -A---A-A love · vices^A · mind · arises · drink · suffices^A · be · devices^A
24 -A-A-A-A cologne · pleading^A · penitent · bleeding^A · due · exceeding^A · cheer · heeding^A
25 -A-A-A-- beasts · lowly^A · he · wholly^A · earth · holy^A · right · solely

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
Boiling in my spirit's veins	7	/˘··/˘·
With fierce indignation,	6	···˘/˘
From my bitterness of soul	7	··/˘˘··
Springs self-revelation:	6	···˘/˘
Framed am I of flimsy stuff,	7	····/˘·
Fit for levitation,	6	···˘/˘
Like a thin leaf which the wind	7	·······
Scatters from its station.	6	/˘··/˘
While it is the wise man's part	7	·······
With deliberation	6	·˘·˘/˘
On a rock to base his heart's	7	·······
Permanent foundation,	6	/˘˘˘/˘
With a running river I	7	··/˘/˘·
Find my just equation,	6	···˘/˘
Which beneath the self-same sky	7	·······
Hath no habitation.	6	···˘/˘
Carried am I like a ship	7	/˘·····
Left without a sailor,	6	····/˘
Like a bird that through the air	7	·······
Flies where tempests hale her;	6	··/˘··
Chains and fetters hold me not,	7	··/˘···
Naught avails a jailer;	6	·˘/·/˘
Still I find my fellows out,	7	····/˘·
Toper, gamester, railer.	6	/˘/˘/˘
To my mind all gravity	7	····/˘˘
Is a grave subjection;	6	···˘/˘
Sweeter far than honey are	7	/˘··/˘·
Jokes and free affection.	6	···˘/˘
All that Venus bids me do,	7	··/˘···
Do I with erection,	6	···˘/˘
For she ne'er in heart of man	7	·······
Dwelt with dull dejection.	6	···˘/˘
Down the broad road do I run,	7	·······
As the way of youth is;	6	······
Snare myself in sin, and ne'er	7	··/····
Think where faith and truth is;	6	······
Eager far for pleasure more	7	/˘··/˘·
Than soul's health, the sooth is,	6	······
For this flesh of mine I care,	7	·······
Seek not ruth where ruth is.	6	······
Prelate, most discreet of priests,	7	/˘·˘/··
Grant me absolution!	6	···˘/˘
Dear's the death whereof I die,	7	·······
Sweet my dissolution;	6	···˘/˘
For my heart is wounded by	7	····/˘·
Beauty's soft suffusion;	6	/˘·˘/˘
All the girls I come not nigh,	7	·······
Mine are in illusion.	6	···˘/˘
'Tis most arduous to make	7	··/˘˘··
Nature's self surrender;	6	/˘·˘/˘
Seeing girls, to blush and be	7	/˘·····
Purity's defender!	6	/˘˘˘/˘
We young men our longings ne'er	7	···//˘·
Shall to stern law render,	6	····/˘
Or preserve our fancies from	7	·˘///˘·
Bodies smooth and tender.	6	/˘··/˘
Who, when into fire he falls,	7	····/··
Keeps himself from burning?	6	·˘/·/˘
Who within Pavia's walls	7	···/˘˘·
Fame of chaste is earning?	6	····/˘
Venus with her finger calls	7	/˘··/˘·
Youths at every turning,	7	··/˘˘/˘
Snares them with her eyes, and thralls	7	·······
With her amorous yearning.	7	··/˘˘/˘
If you brought Hippolitus	7	·······
To Pavia Sunday,	6	·/˘˘/·
He'd not be Hippolitus	7	·······
On the following Monday;	7	··/˘˘/˘
Venus there keeps holiday	7	/˘··/˘·
Every day as one day;	7	/˘˘····
'Mid these towers in no tower dwells	7	··/··/·
Venus Verecunda.	6	/˘····
In the second place I own	7	··/˘···
To the vice of gaming:	6	····/˘
Cold indeed outside I seem,	7	·˘///··
Yet my soul is flaming:	6	····/˘
But when once the dice-box hath	7	·······
Stripped me to my shaming,	7	·˘···/˘
Make I songs and verses fit	7	····/˘·
For the world's acclaiming.	6	···˘/˘
In the third place, I will speak	7	·······
Of the tavern's pleasure;	6	··/˘/˘
For I never found nor find	7	··/˘···
There the least displeasure;	6	···˘/˘
Nor shall find it till I greet	7	·······
Angels without measure,	6	/˘··/˘
Singing requiems for the souls	7	/˘/˘···
In eternal leisure.	6	·˘/˘/˘
In the public-house to die	7	··/˘···
Is my resolution;	6	···˘/˘
Let wine to my lips be nigh	7	·······
At life's dissolution:	6	···˘/˘
That will make the angels cry,	7	····/˘·
With glad elocution,	6	···˘/˘
"Grant this toper, God on high,	7	··/˘···
Grace and absolution!"	6	···˘/˘
With the cup the soul lights up,	7	·······
Inspirations flicker;	6	·˘/˘/˘
Nectar lifts the soul on high	7	/˘·····
With its heavenly ichor:	7	··/˘˘/˘
To my lips a sounder taste	7	····/˘·
Hath the tavern's liquor	6	··/˘/˘
Than the wine a village clerk	7	····/˘·
Waters for the vicar.	6	/˘··/˘
Nature gives to every man	7	/˘··/˘·
Some gift serviceable;	6	··/˘˘˘
Write I never could nor can	7	··/˘···
Hungry at the table;	6	/˘··/˘
Fasting, any stripling to	7	/˘/˘/˘·
Vanquish me is able;	6	/˘··/˘
Hunger, thirst, I liken to	7	/˘··/˘·
Death that ends the fable.	6	····/˘
Nature gives to every man	7	/˘··/˘·
Gifts as she is willing;	6	····/˘
I compose my verses when	7	·˘/·/˘·
Good wine I am swilling,	6	····/˘
Wine the best for jolly guest	7	····/˘·
Jolly hosts are filling;	6	/˘··/˘
From such wine rare fancies fine	7	····/˘·
Flow like dews distilling.	6	···˘/˘
Such my verse is wont to be	7	·······
As the wine I swallow;	6	····/˘
No ripe thoughts enliven me	7	···˘/˘·
While my stomach's hollow;	6	··/˘/˘
Hungry wits on hungry lips	7	/˘··/˘·
Like a shadow follow,	6	··/·/˘
But when once I'm in my cups,	7	·······
I can beat Apollo.	6	···˘/˘
Never to my spirit yet	7	/˘··/˘·
Flew poetic vision	6	·˘/˘/˘
Until first my belly had	7	····/˘·
Plentiful provision;	6	/˘˘˘/˘
Let but Bacchus in the brain	7	··/˘···
Take a strong position,	6	···˘/˘
Then comes Phoebus flowing in	7	··/˘/˘·
With a fine precision.	6	···˘/˘
There are poets, worthy men,	7	··/˘/˘·
Shrink from public places,	6	··/˘/˘
And in lurking-hole or den	7	··/˘···
Hide their pallid faces;	6	··/˘/˘
There they study, sweat, and woo	7	··/˘···
Pallas and the Graces,	6	····/˘
But bring nothing forth to view	7	··/˘···
Worth the girls' embraces.	6	···˘/˘
Fasting, thirsting, toil the bards,	7	/˘/˘···
Swift years flying o'er them;	6	··/˘··
Shun the strife of open life,	7	····/˘·
Tumults of the forum;	6	/˘··/˘
They, to sing some deathless thing,	7	····/˘·
Lest the world ignore them,	6	···˘/·
Die the death, expend their breath,	7	···˘/··
Drowned in dull decorum.	7	·˘··˘/˘
Lo! my frailties I've betrayed,	7	··/˘·˘/
Shown you every token,	7	··/˘˘/˘
Told you what your servitors	7	·······
Have against me spoken;	6	····/˘
But of those men each and all	7	·······
Leave their sins unspoken,	6	···˘/˘
Though they play, enjoy to-day,	7	···˘/··
Scorn their pledges broken.	6	··/˘/˘
Now within the audience-room	7	····/˘·
Of this blessed prelate,	6	···˘/˘
Sent to hunt out vice, and from	7	·······
Hearts of men expel it;	6	···˘/·
Let him rise, nor spare the bard,	7	·······
Cast at him a pellet;	6	····/˘
He whose heart knows not crime's smart,	7	·······
Show my sin and tell it!	6	······
I have uttered openly	7	··/˘/˘˘
All I knew that shamed me,	7	·····˘·
And have spued the poison forth	7	····/˘·
That so long defamed me;	7	···˘/˘·
Of my old ways I repent,	7	·····˘/
New life hath reclaimed me;	7	···˘/˘·
God beholds the heart--'twas man	7	·˘/····
Viewed the face and blamed me.	7	·˘·····
Goodness now hath won my love,	7	/˘·····
I am wroth with vices;	6	····/˘
Made a new man in my mind,	7	·······
Lo, my soul arises!	6	···˘/˘
Like a babe new milk I drink--	7	·······
Milk for me suffices,	6	···˘/˘
Lest my heart should longer be	7	····/˘·
Filled with vain devices.	7	·˘··˘/˘
Thou Elect of fair Cologne,	7	·˘/··˘/
Listen to my pleading!	6	/˘··/˘
Spurn not thou the penitent;	7	····/˘˘
See, his heart is bleeding!	6	····/˘
Give me penance! what is due	7	··/˘···
For my faults exceeding	6	···˘/˘
I will bear with willing cheer,	7	····/˘·
All thy precepts heeding.	6	··/·/˘
Lo, the lion, king of beasts,	7	··/˘···
Spares the meek and lowly;	6	····/˘
Toward submissive creatures he	8	··˘/˘/˘·
Tames his anger wholly.	6	··/˘/˘
Do the like, ye powers of earth,	7	····/··
Temporal and holy!	6	/˘˘·/˘
Bitterness is more than's right	7	/˘˘····
When 'tis bitter solely.	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.

More by John Addington Symonds

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