Fallen Majesty
Although crowds gathered once if she but showed her face,And even old men's eyes grew dim, this hand alone,Like some last courtier at a gypsy camping place,Babbling of fallen majesty, records what's gone.
The lineaments, a heart that laughter has made sweet,These, these remain, but I record what's gone. A crowdWill gather, and not know it walks the very streetWhereon a thing once walked that seemed a burning cloud.
Words in this poem
- courtier n.
- One who is in attendance at the court of a prince; one who has an appointment at court. [From Court.]
- camping n.
- Lodging in a camp.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fallen Majesty is in the public domain. This text is taken from Responsibilities, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #36865; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: W. B. Yeats, Fallen Majesty, in Responsibilities (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #36865, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/yeats-responsibilities/fallen-majesty.html, id L04575.
Form and metre
Fallen Majesty is 8 lines in 2 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is alexandrines, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.8 syllables. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in alexandrines.
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- faceA · alone · placeA · gone
- 2 ABAB sweetA · crowdB · streetA · cloudB
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 alexandrines. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Although crowds gathered once if she but showed her face, | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| And even old men's eyes grew dim, this hand alone, | 11 | ·/·······˘/ |
| Like some last courtier at a gypsy camping place, | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Babbling of fallen majesty, records what's gone. | 11 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| The lineaments, a heart that laughter has made sweet, | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| These, these remain, but I record what's gone. A crowd | 12 | ··˘/··˘/···· |
| Will gather, and not know it walks the very street | 12 | ·/˘······/˘· |
| Whereon a thing once walked that seemed a burning cloud. | 12 | ˘/·······/˘· |
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.