Venevil
Fair Venevil hastened with tripping feetHer lover to meet.He sang, so it rang o'er the church far away:"Good-day! Good-day!"
And all the little birds sang right merrily their lay:"Midsummer DayBrings us laughter and play;But later know I little, if she twines her wreath so gay!"
She twined him a wreath of the flowers blue:"My eyes for you!"He tossed it and caught it and to her did bend:"Good-by, my friend!"And loudly he exulted at the field's far distant end:"Midsummer DayBrings us laughter and play;But later know I little, if she twines her wreath so gay!"
She twined him a wreath: "Do at all you careFor my golden hair?"She twined one, and gave in life's hour so rareHer red lips' pair;He took them and he pressed them, and he blushed as she did there.
She twined one all white as a lily-band:"'T is my right hand."She twined one blood-red, with her love in each strand:"'T is my left hand."He took them both and kept them both, but would not understand.
She twined of the flowers that bloomed around"Every one I found!"She gathered and twined, while tears would her eyes fill:"Take them you will!"In silence then he took them, but to flight he turned him still.
She twined one so large, of discordant hue:"My bride's-wreath true!"She twined it and twined, till her fingers were sore:"Crown me, I implore!"But when she turned, he was not there, she never saw him more.
She twined yet undaunted without a stayAt her bride's-array.But now it was long past the Midsummer Day,All the flowers away:She twined it of the flowers, though they all were now away!"Midsummer DayBrings us laughter and play;But later know I little, if she twines her wreath so gay!"
Words in this poem
- midsummer n.
- The middle of summer. Shak. Midsummer daisy (Bot.), the oxeye daisy. [AS. midsumor.]
- undaunted a.
- Not daunted; not subdued or depressed by fear.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Venevil 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, Venevil, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/venevil.html, id L29235.
Form and metre
Venevil is 44 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 86% of the lines.
See other poems in rhyming couplets.
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 AABB feetA · meetA · awayB · dayB
- 2 AAAA layA · dayA · playA · gayA
- 3 AABBBCCC blueA · youA · bendB · friendB · endB · dayC · playC · gayC
- 4 AAAAA careA · hairA · rareA · pairA · thereA
- 5 AAAAA bandA · handA · strandA · handA · understandA
- 6 AABBB aroundA · foundA · fillB · willB · stillB
- 7 AABBB hueA · trueA · soreB · imploreB · moreB
- 8 AAAAAAAA stayA · arrayA · dayA · awayA · awayA · dayA · playA · gayA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Fair Venevil hastened with tripping feet | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| Her lover to meet. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| He sang, so it rang o'er the church far away: | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| "Good-day! Good-day!" | 4 | ···· |
| And all the little birds sang right merrily their lay: | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| "Midsummer Day | 4 | //˘· |
| Brings us laughter and play; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| But later know I little, if she twines her wreath so gay!" | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| She twined him a wreath of the flowers blue: | 9 | ·······/· |
| "My eyes for you!" | 4 | ···· |
| He tossed it and caught it and to her did bend: | 11 | ··········· |
| "Good-by, my friend!" | 4 | ···· |
| And loudly he exulted at the field's far distant end: | 14 | ·/˘·˘/˘····/˘· |
| "Midsummer Day | 4 | //˘· |
| Brings us laughter and play; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| But later know I little, if she twines her wreath so gay!" | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| She twined him a wreath: "Do at all you care | 10 | ·········· |
| For my golden hair?" | 5 | ··/˘· |
| She twined one, and gave in life's hour so rare | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Her red lips' pair; | 4 | ···· |
| He took them and he pressed them, and he blushed as she did there. | 14 | ·············· |
| She twined one all white as a lily-band: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "'T is my right hand." | 5 | ····· |
| She twined one blood-red, with her love in each strand: | 11 | ··········· |
| "'T is my left hand." | 5 | ····· |
| He took them both and kept them both, but would not understand. | 14 | ············˘/ |
| She twined of the flowers that bloomed around | 9 | ····/···· |
| "Every one I found!" | 6 | /˘˘··· |
| She gathered and twined, while tears would her eyes fill: | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| "Take them you will!" | 4 | ···· |
| In silence then he took them, but to flight he turned him still. | 14 | ·/˘··········· |
| She twined one so large, of discordant hue: | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| "My bride's-wreath true!" | 4 | ···· |
| She twined it and twined, till her fingers were sore: | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| "Crown me, I implore!" | 5 | ···˘/ |
| But when she turned, he was not there, she never saw him more. | 13 | ·········/··· |
| She twined yet undaunted without a stay | 10 | ···˘/˘···· |
| At her bride's-array. | 5 | ···˘/ |
| But now it was long past the Midsummer Day, | 11 | ·······//˘· |
| All the flowers away: | 6 | ··/˘˘/ |
| She twined it of the flowers, though they all were now away! | 13 | ·····/·····˘/ |
| "Midsummer Day | 4 | //˘· |
| Brings us laughter and play; | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| But later know I little, if she twines her wreath so gay!" | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
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.