The Maiden on the Shore
She wandered so young on the shore around,Her thoughts were by naught on earth now bound.Soon came there a painter, his art he pliedAbove the tide,In shadow wide,--He painted the shore and herself beside.
More slowly she wandered near him around,Her thoughts by a single thing were bound.And this was his picture wherein he drewHerself so true,Herself so true,Reflected in ocean with heaven's blue.
All driven and drawn far and wide aroundHer thoughts now by everything were bound.Far over the ocean,--and yet most dearThe shore right here,The man so near,Did ever the sunshine so bright appear!
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Maiden on the Shore is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, The Maiden on the Shore, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/the-maiden-on-the-shore.html, id L29258.
Form and metre
The Maiden on the Shore is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBBB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 AABBBB aroundA · boundA · pliedB · tideB · wideB · besideB
- 2 AABBBB aroundA · boundA · drewB · trueB · trueB · blueB
- 3 AABBBB aroundA · boundA · dearB · hereB · nearB · appearB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| She wandered so young on the shore around, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Her thoughts were by naught on earth now bound. | 9 | ········· |
| Soon came there a painter, his art he plied | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Above the tide, | 4 | ···· |
| In shadow wide,-- | 4 | ·/·· |
| He painted the shore and herself beside. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘/ |
| More slowly she wandered near him around, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| Her thoughts by a single thing were bound. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| And this was his picture wherein he drew | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Herself so true, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Herself so true, | 4 | ˘/·· |
| Reflected in ocean with heaven's blue. | 10 | ˘/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| All driven and drawn far and wide around | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Her thoughts now by everything were bound. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Far over the ocean,--and yet most dear | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| The shore right here, | 4 | ···· |
| The man so near, | 4 | ···· |
| Did ever the sunshine so bright appear! | 10 | ·/˘·/···˘/ |
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.