Hope Shines—As in a Stable a Wisp of Straw
Hope shines--as in a stable a wisp of straw.Fear not the wasp drunk with his crazy flight!Through some chink always, see, the moted light!Propped on your hand, you dozed--But let me draw
Cool water from the well for you, at least,Poor soul! There, drink! Then sleep. See, I remain,And I will sing a slumberous refrain,And you shall murmur like a child appeased.
Noon strikes. Approach not, Madam, pray, or call....He sleeps. Strange how a woman's light footfallRe-echoes through the brains of grief-worn men!
Noon strikes. I bade them sprinkle in the room.Sleep on! Hope shines--a pebble in the gloom.--When shall the Autumn rose re-blossom,--when?
Words in this poem
- wisp n.
- A small bundle, as of straw or other like substance. [OE. wisp, wips; probably akin to D. & G. wisch, Icel. visk, and perhaps to L. virga a twig, rod. Cf. Verge a rod, Whisk, n.]
- moted a.
- Filled with motes, or fine floating dust; as, the air.
- slumberous a.
- Inviting slumber; soporiferous.
- 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,]
- footfall n.
- A setting down of the foot; a footstep; the sound of a footstep.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hope Shines—As in a Stable a Wisp of Straw is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8426, the Gertrude Hall translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Paul Verlaine, Hope Shines—As in a Stable a Wisp of Straw, in Poems (1895), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8426, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/verlaine-poems/hope-shines-as-in-a-stable-a-wisp-of-straw.html, id L15508.
Form and metre
Hope Shines—As in a Stable a Wisp of Straw is 14 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBA strawA · flightB · lightB · drawA
- 2 -AA- least · remainA · refrainA · appeased
- 3 AA- callA · footfallA · men
- 4 AA- roomA · gloomA · when
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hope shines--as in a stable a wisp of straw. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Fear not the wasp drunk with his crazy flight! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Through some chink always, see, the moted light! | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Propped on your hand, you dozed--But let me draw | 10 | ·········· |
| Cool water from the well for you, at least, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Poor soul! There, drink! Then sleep. See, I remain, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And I will sing a slumberous refrain, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| And you shall murmur like a child appeased. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Noon strikes. Approach not, Madam, pray, or call.... | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| He sleeps. Strange how a woman's light footfall | 10 | ·····/˘·/· |
| Re-echoes through the brains of grief-worn men! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Noon strikes. I bade them sprinkle in the room. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sleep on! Hope shines--a pebble in the gloom. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| --When shall the Autumn rose re-blossom,--when? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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.