Dance-Music
Now let the sleep-tune blend with the play-tune,Weaving the mystical spell of the dance;Lighten the deep tune, soften the gay tune,Mingle a tempo that turns in a trance.Half of it sighing, half of it smiling,Smoothly it swings, with a triplicate beat;Calling, replying, yearning, beguiling,Wooing the heart and bewitching the feet.Every drop of bloodRises with the flood,Rocking on the waves of the strain;Youth and beauty glideTurning with the tide--Music making one out of twain,Bearing them away, and away, and away,Like a tone and its terce--Till the chord dissolves, and the dancers stay,And reverse.
Violins leading, take up the measure,Turn with the tune again,--clarinets clearAnswer their pleading,--harps full of pleasureSprinkle their silver like light on the mere.Semiquaver notes,Merry little motes,Tangled in the hazeOf the lamp's golden rays,Quiver everywhereIn the air,Like a spray,--Till the fuller stream of the might of the tune,Gliding like a dream in the light of the moon,Bears them all away, and away, and away,Floating in the trance of the dance.
Then begins a measure stately,Languid, slow, serene;All the dancers move sedately,Stepping leisurely and straitly,With a courtly mien;Crossing hands and changing places,Bowing low between,While the minuet inlacesWaving arms and woven paces,--Glittering damaskeen.Where is she whose form is foldenIn its royal sheen?From our longing eyes withholdenBy her mystic girdle golden,Beauty sought but never seen,Music walks the maze, a queen.
Words in this poem
- tempo n.
- The rate or degree of movement in time. A tempo giusto (joos"to) Etym: [It.], in exact time; -- sometimes, directing a return to strict time after a tempo rubato. [It., fr. L. tempus. See Tense, n.]
- triplicate a.
- Made thrice as much; threefold; tripled. Triplicate ratio (Math.), the ratio of the cubes of two quantities; thus, the triplicate ratio of a to b is a3: b3. [L. triplicatus, p. p. of triplicare to triple, treble; tri- (see Tri-) + plicare to fold. See Ply, v. t.]
- beguiling a.
- Alluring by guile; deluding; misleading; diverting.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- straitly adv.
- In a strait manner; narrowly; strictly; rigorously. Mark i. 43.
- courtly a.
- Relating or belonging to a court. [From Court.]
- minuet n.
- A slow graceful dance consisting of a coupee, a high step, and a balance. [F., fr. menu small, L. minutus small. So called on account of the short steps of the dance. See 4th Minute.]
- damaskeen v. t.
- To decorate, as iron, steel, etc., with a peculiar marking or [F. damaschinare. See Damascene, v.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Dance-Music is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, Dance-Music, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/dance-music.html, id L22974.
Form and metre
Dance-Music is 49 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCDCDEEFGGFH-H- tuneA · danceB · tuneA · tranceB · smilingC · beatD · beguilingC · feetD · bloodE · floodE · strainF · glideG · tideG · twainF · awayH · terce · stayH · reverse
- 2 ABABCCDDEEFGGF- measureA · clearB · pleasureA · mereB · notesC · motesC · hazeD · raysD · everywhereE · airE · sprayF · tuneG · moonG · awayF · dance
- 3 ABA-BCBCCBDBDDBB statelyA · sereneB · sedatelyA · straitly · mienB · placesC · betweenB · inlacesC · pacesC · damaskeenB · foldenD · sheenB · withholdenD · goldenD · seenB · queenB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now let the sleep-tune blend with the play-tune, | 10 | ·········· |
| Weaving the mystical spell of the dance; | 10 | /˘·/˘˘···· |
| Lighten the deep tune, soften the gay tune, | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| Mingle a tempo that turns in a trance. | 10 | /˘·/······ |
| Half of it sighing, half of it smiling, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Smoothly it swings, with a triplicate beat; | 10 | /˘····/˘˘· |
| Calling, replying, yearning, beguiling, | 10 | /˘˘/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| Wooing the heart and bewitching the feet. | 10 | /˘···˘/˘·· |
| Every drop of blood | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Rises with the flood, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Rocking on the waves of the strain; | 8 | /˘······ |
| Youth and beauty glide | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Turning with the tide-- | 5 | /˘··· |
| Music making one out of twain, | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| Bearing them away, and away, and away, | 11 | /˘·˘/·˘/·˘/ |
| Like a tone and its terce-- | 6 | ······ |
| Till the chord dissolves, and the dancers stay, | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| And reverse. | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Violins leading, take up the measure, | 10 | ˘˘//˘···/˘ |
| Turn with the tune again,--clarinets clear | 10 | ····˘/·˘/· |
| Answer their pleading,--harps full of pleasure | 10 | /˘·/˘···/˘ |
| Sprinkle their silver like light on the mere. | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Semiquaver notes, | 4 | /˘˘· |
| Merry little motes, | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| Tangled in the haze | 5 | /˘··· |
| Of the lamp's golden rays, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Quiver everywhere | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| In the air, | 3 | ··· |
| Like a spray,-- | 3 | ··· |
| Till the fuller stream of the might of the tune, | 11 | ··/˘······· |
| Gliding like a dream in the light of the moon, | 11 | /˘········· |
| Bears them all away, and away, and away, | 11 | ···˘/·˘/·˘/ |
| Floating in the trance of the dance. | 8 | /˘······ |
| Then begins a measure stately, | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Languid, slow, serene; | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| All the dancers move sedately, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Stepping leisurely and straitly, | 8 | /˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| With a courtly mien; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Crossing hands and changing places, | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Bowing low between, | 5 | /˘··· |
| While the minuet inlaces | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| Waving arms and woven paces,-- | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| Glittering damaskeen. | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| Where is she whose form is folden | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In its royal sheen? | 5 | ··/˘· |
| From our longing eyes withholden | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| By her mystic girdle golden, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Beauty sought but never seen, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Music walks the maze, a queen. | 7 | /˘····· |
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.