[937] The Look

Strephon kissed me in the spring,
  Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
  And never kissed at all.

Strephon's kiss was lost in jest,
  Robin's lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin's eyes
  Haunts me night and day.

	-- Sara Teasdale

A delicately beautiful little poem - I love both the central image, and the
light, sure touch with which Teasdale develops it. And, as usual with
Teasdale's poetry, the combination of quietness and power, both masked by an
apparent simplicity, is nothing short of impressive.

There is, however (and unusually enough that I wonder if I'm misscanning the
poem), a slight roughness to the seventh line - I keep wanting to insert an
'oh,' after the 'but' to restore the regular iambic pattern. Comments?

Links:

 Biography: See Poem #113

 Teasdale poems on Minstrels:
   Poem #464, "Central Park at Dusk"
   Poem #113, "Morning"
   Poem #223, "There Will Come Soft Rains"
   Poem #430, "Wild Asters"

-martin

From: amitc@

* Martin Demello:
> There is, however (and unusually enough that I wonder if I'm misscanning
> the poem), a slight roughness to the seventh line - I keep wanting to
> insert an 'oh,' after the 'but' to restore the regular iambic pattern.
> Comments?

Sure -- the intention is to introduce a pause 
before the punchline. Just imagine an inaudible 
unstressed syllable before the 'But'.

--Amit

From: RChamp7927@

Strephon...Robin...Colin:  these are names that appear in the old Elizabethan 
love lyrics, usually as shepherds who manage, between herding the flocks, to 
court  country maids of the uncoy sort.  How interesting that Teasdale would 
have borrowed them--probably one of the few poets of her time to do so.  The 
feeling, though, is Victorian, as the speaker dwells upon the shepherd lost 
with a wistfulness the Elizabethans, on the whole, did not find particularly 
desirable.

Bob Champ

From: vivian@

Dear Martin --

I wouldn't look at this poem as iambic -- basically trochaic, if anything,
with an extra foot at the end of each line :
(STREPH-on) (KISSED me) (IN the) (SPRING )-- but this stops working in lines
3 and 4. I think it would be most helpful to think of this as "ballad meter"
or "hymn meter"-- alternating lines of four and three stresses (not "feet"),
never mind the order of stressed and unstressed syllables within the line
(or the number of unstressed syllables between stresses, which doesn't
happen to be relevant here). This solves the mystery of line 7:

STREPH-on KISSED me IN the SPRING (4)
    ROB-in IN the FALL (3)
But CO-lin ON-ly LOOKED at ME (4)
    And NEV-er KISSED at ALL (3)

STREPH-on's KISS was LOST in JEST (4)
    ROB-in's LOST in PLAY (3)
BUT the KISS in COL-in's EYES (4)
    HAUNTS me NIGHT and DAY (3)

I've invented a method for checking whether something is indeed ballad
meter -- you simply sing the words to any well-known ballad or hymn tune,
say "Amazing Grace." Works like a charm.

All the best,
Vivian

From: Martin Julian DeMello <martindemello@>

> I wouldn't look at this poem as iambic -- basically trochaic, if anything,
> with an extra foot at the end of each line :

Yes, I fully agree with this, and the poem is pretty clearly in ballad
metre. The bit I was objecting to was the unnatural promotion, in line 7

   BUT the KISS in COL-in's EYES (4)

of 'but' to a stressed syllable. Hence my wish for an 'oh' - 

  but OH, || the KISS in COL-in's EYES

with an almost automatic caesura after the 'oh' to maintain the sense of a
break in the rhythm while, at the same time, not straining the 'natural'
reading of the words.

> I've invented a method for checking whether something is indeed ballad
> meter -- you simply sing the words to any well-known ballad or hymn tune,
> say "Amazing Grace." Works like a charm.

I like this :)

martin

From: A Pearce <apearce@>

Hi, Martin

To me the metre reads perfectly in line seven. If any line is out of step,
for me it would be line three, which scans well without the word 'but'.
Having said that, the first word repetition of lines one to three in the
second verse would be lost if it were removed. And the unstressed 'but' in
line three gives extra emphasis to the stressed 'but' in line seven - very
neat!

It is a little poem which carries a wealth of meaning, and beautifully
crafted. Thank you for including it on your excellent website.

Averil.

-- apearce@

From: Diane Eden <d2eden@>

I learned this poem when I was a young girl . . the words have never left
me.  It is "haunting" and wonderful.