A Waltz-Quadrille
The band was playing a waltz-quadrille,I felt as light as a wind-blown feather,As we floated away, at the caller's will,Through the intricate, mazy dance together.Like mimic armies our lines were meeting,Slowly advancing, and then retreating,All decked in their bright array;And back and forth to the music's rhymeWe moved together, and all the timeI knew you were going away.
The fold of your strong arm sent a thrillFrom heart to brain as we gently glidedLike leaves on the wave of that waltz-quadrille;Parted, met, and again divided--You drifting one way, and I another,Then suddenly turning and facing each other,Then off in the blithe chasse,Then airily back to our places swaying,While every beat of the music seemed sayingThat you were going away.
I said to my heart, "Let us take our fillOf mirth and music and love and laughter;For it all must end with this waltz-quadrille,And life will be never the same life after.Oh, that the caller might go on calling,Oh, that the music might go on fallingLike a shower of silver spray,While we whirled on to the vast Forever,Where no hearts break, and no ties sever,And no one goes away."
A clamor, a crash, and the band was still;'Twas the end of the dream, and the end of the measure:The last low notes of that waltz-quadrilleSeemed like a dirge o'er the death of Pleasure.You said good-night, and the spell was over--Too warm for a friend, and too cold for a lover--There was nothing else to say;But the lights looked dim, and the dancers weary,And the music was sad, and the hall was dreary,After you went away.
Words in this poem
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- chasse n.
- A movement in dancing, as across or to the right or left. [F., fr. chassé, p. p. of chasser to chase.]
- airily adv.
- In an airy manner; lightly; gaily; jauntily; fippantly.
- caller a.
- Cool; refreshing; fresh; as, a caller day; the caller air.
- dirge n.
- A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Waltz-Quadrille is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Passion, Project Gutenberg ebook #16776; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ella Wheeler Wilcox, A Waltz-Quadrille, in Poems of Passion (1883), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16776, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wilcox-passion/a-waltz-quadrille.html, id L22166.
Form and metre
A Waltz-Quadrille is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%).
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 ABABCCDEED quadrilleA · featherB · willA · togetherB · meetingC · retreatingC · arrayD · rhymeE · timeE · awayD
- 2 A-A-BB-CC- thrillA · glided · quadrilleA · divided · anotherB · otherB · chasse · swayingC · sayingC · away
- 3 ABAB--CDDC fillA · laughterB · quadrilleA · afterB · calling · falling · sprayC · foreverD · severD · awayC
- 4 ABAB--CDDC stillA · measureB · quadrilleA · pleasureB · over · lover · sayC · wearyD · drearyD · awayC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The band was playing a waltz-quadrille, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| I felt as light as a wind-blown feather, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| As we floated away, at the caller's will, | 11 | ··/˘˘/··/˘· |
| Through the intricate, mazy dance together. | 11 | ··/˘˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Like mimic armies our lines were meeting, | 11 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘ |
| Slowly advancing, and then retreating, | 10 | /˘˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| All decked in their bright array; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And back and forth to the music's rhyme | 9 | ······/˘· |
| We moved together, and all the time | 10 | ··˘˘/˘···· |
| I knew you were going away. | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| The fold of your strong arm sent a thrill | 9 | ········· |
| From heart to brain as we gently glided | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Like leaves on the wave of that waltz-quadrille; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Parted, met, and again divided-- | 9 | /˘··˘/˘/˘ |
| You drifting one way, and I another, | 10 | ·/˘····˘/˘ |
| Then suddenly turning and facing each other, | 11 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Then off in the blithe chasse, | 6 | ······ |
| Then airily back to our places swaying, | 11 | ·/˘˘··//˘/˘ |
| While every beat of the music seemed saying | 11 | ·/˘···/˘·/˘ |
| That you were going away. | 7 | ···/˘˘/ |
| I said to my heart, "Let us take our fill | 10 | ········/· |
| Of mirth and music and love and laughter; | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| For it all must end with this waltz-quadrille, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And life will be never the same life after. | 10 | ····/····· |
| Oh, that the caller might go on calling, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Oh, that the music might go on falling | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Like a shower of silver spray, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| While we whirled on to the vast Forever, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Where no hearts break, and no ties sever, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And no one goes away." | 6 | ····˘/ |
| A clamor, a crash, and the band was still; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| 'Twas the end of the dream, and the end of the measure: | 13 | ···········/˘ |
| The last low notes of that waltz-quadrille | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Seemed like a dirge o'er the death of Pleasure. | 10 | ········/˘ |
| You said good-night, and the spell was over-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Too warm for a friend, and too cold for a lover-- | 12 | ··········/˘ |
| There was nothing else to say; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But the lights looked dim, and the dancers weary, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| And the music was sad, and the hall was dreary, | 12 | ··/˘······/˘ |
| After you went away. | 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.