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.
Commentary
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
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
vivian · 10 November 2001
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
RChamp7927 · 10 November 2001
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
Amit Chakrabarti · 10 November 2001
* Martin Demello:
Sure – the intention is to introduce a pause before the punchline. Just imagine an inaudible unstressed syllable before the ‘But’.
–Amit
Martin DeMello · 11 November 2001
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’ -
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 like this :)
martin
A Pearce · 27 November 2001
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.
Diane Eden · 10 July 2003
I learned this poem when I was a young girl . . the words have never left me. It is “haunting” and wonderful.
McProl · 22 December 2007
the missing syllable takes my breath away and gives me a sense of urgency–i quite enjoyed that, M