Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse



Through Alpine meadows soft-suffused
     With rain, where thick the crocus blows,
     Past the dark forges long disused,
     The mule-track from Saint Laurent goes.
     The bridge is cross'd, and slow we ride,
     Through forest, up the mountain-side.

     The autumnal evening darkens round,
     The wind is up, and drives the rain;
     While, hark! far down, with strangled sound
   Doth the Dead Guier's stream complain,
   Where that wet smoke, among the woods,
   Over his boiling cauldron broods.

   Swift rush the spectral vapours white
   Past limestone scars with ragged pines,
   Showing--then blotting from our sight!--
   Halt--through the cloud-drift something shines!
   High in the valley, wet and drear,
   The huts of Courrerie appear.

   Strike leftward! cries our guide; and higher
   Mounts up the stony forest-way.
   At last the encircling trees retire;
   Look! through the showery twilight grey
   What pointed roofs are these advance?--
   A palace of the Kings of France?

   Approach, for what we seek is here!
   Alight, and sparely sup, and wait
   For rest in this outbuilding near;
   Then cross the sward and reach that gate.
   Knock; pass the wicket! Thou art come
   To the Carthusians' world-famed home.

   The silent courts, where night and day
   Into their stone-carved basins cold
   The splashing icy fountains play--
   The humid corridors behold!
   Where, ghostlike in the deepening night,
   Cowl'd forms brush by in gleaming white.

   The chapel, where no organ's peal
   Invests the stern and naked prayer--
   With penitential cries they kneel
   And wrestle; rising then, with bare
   And white uplifted faces stand,
   Passing the Host from hand to hand;

   Each takes, and then his visage wan
   Is buried in his cowl once more.
   The cells!--the suffering Son of Man
   Upon the wall--the knee-worn floor--
   And where they sleep, that wooden bed,
   Which shall their coffin be, when dead!

   The library, where tract and tome
   Not to feed priestly pride are there,
   To hymn the conquering march of Rome,
   Nor yet to amuse, as ours are!
   They paint of souls the inner strife,
   Their drops of blood, their death in life.

   The garden, overgrown--yet mild,
   See, fragrant herbs are flowering there!
   Strong children of the Alpine wild
   Whose culture is the brethren's care;
   Of human tasks their only one,
     And cheerful works beneath the sun.

   Those halls, too, destined to contain
   Each its own pilgrim-host of old,
   From England, Germany, or Spain--
   All are before me! I behold
   The House, the Brotherhood austere!
   --And what am I, that I am here?

   For rigorous teachers seized my youth,
   And purged its faith, and trimm'd its fire,
   Show'd me the high, white star of Truth,
   There bade me gaze, and there aspire.

   Even now their whispers pierce the gloom:
   What dost thou in this living tomb?

   Forgive me, masters of the mind!
   At whose behest I long ago
   So much unlearnt, so much resign'd--
   I come not here to be your foe!
   I seek these anchorites, not in ruth,
   To curse and to deny your truth;

   Not as their friend, or child, I speak!
   But as, on some far northern strand,
   Thinking of his own Gods, a Greek
   In pity and mournful awe might stand
   Before some fallen Runic stone--
   For both were faiths, and both are gone.

   Wandering between two worlds, one dead,
   The other powerless to be born,
   With nowhere yet to rest my head,
   Like these, on earth I wait forlorn.
   Their faith, my tears, the world deride--
  I come to shed them at their side.

   Oh, hide me in your gloom profound,
   Ye solemn seats of holy pain!
   Take me, cowl'd forms, and fence me round,
   Till I possess my soul again;
Till free my thoughts before me roll,
Not chafed by hourly false control!

For the world cries your faith is now
But a dead time's exploded dream;
My melancholy, sciolists say,
Is a pass'd mode, an outworn theme--
As if the world had ever had
A faith, or sciolists been sad!

Ah, if it be pass'd, take away,
At least, the restlessness, the pain;
Be man henceforth no more a prey
To these out-dated stings again!
The nobleness of grief is gone
Ah, leave us not the fret alone!

But--if you cannot give us ease--
Last of the race of them who grieve
Here leave us to die out
Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 14, 2023

3:36 min read
82

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCC DEDEXB FGFGHH HIHHJJ HKHKXL IMIMFF NHNHOO XHXHPP LHLHQQ RHRHSS EMEMHH THTH UU VWVWTT YOYOZ1 P2 P2 CC DEDE3 3 X4 I4 5 5 IEHE1 Z XXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 4,226
Words 709
Stanzas 20
Stanza Lengths 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 4, 2, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 3

Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. more…

All Matthew Arnold poems | Matthew Arnold Books

2 fans

Discuss the poem Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 Oct. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/27284/stanzas-from-the-grande-chartreuse>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    October 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    18
    days
    14
    hours
    15
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Do not go gentle into that good _______. Rage, rage against the dying of the light
    A fire
    B night
    C day
    D end