From Peyre Vidal, the Troubadour
The earth was sown with early flowers,The heavens were blue and bright--I met a youthful cavalierAs lovely as the light.I knew him not--but in my heartHis graceful image lies,And well I marked his open brow,His sweet and tender eyes,His ruddy lips that ever smiled,His glittering teeth betwixt,And flowing robe embroidered o'er,With leaves and blossoms mixed.He wore a chaplet of the rose;His palfrey, white and sleek,Was marked with many an ebon spot,And many a purple streak;Of jasper was his saddle-bow,His housings sapphire stone,And brightly in his stirrup glancedThe purple calcedon.Fast rode the gallant cavalier,As youthful horsemen ride;"Peyre Vidal! know that I am Love,"The blooming stranger cried;"And this is Mercy by my side,A dame of high degree;This maid is Chastity," he said,"This squire is Loyalty."
THE LOVE OF GOD. deg.
Words in this poem
- cavalier n.
- A military man serving on horseback; a knight. [F. cavalier, It. cavaliere, LL. caballarius, fr. L. caballus. See Cavalcade, and cf. Cavallier, Caballine.]
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- chaplet n.
- A garland or wreath to be worn on the head. [F. chapelet, dim. of OF. chapel hat, garland, dim. fr. LL. cappa. See Cap, and cf. Chapelet, Chapeau.]
- palfrey n.
- A saddle horse for the road, or for state occasions, as distinguished from a war horse. [OE. palefrai, OF. palefrei, F. palefroi, LL. palafredus, parafredus, from L. paraveredus a horse for extraordinary occasions, an extra post horse; Gr. veredus a]
- ebon a.
- Consisting of ebony.
- calcedon n.
- A foul vein, like chalcedony, in some precious stones. [See Chalcedony.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From Peyre Vidal, the Troubadour is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cullen Bryant, From Peyre Vidal, the Troubadour, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/from-peyre-vidal-the-troubadour.html, id L07332.
Form and metre
From Peyre Vidal, the Troubadour is 29 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 -ABA-CDC-E-E-F-FD---BG-GG--- flowers · brightA · cavalierB · lightA · heart · liesC · browD · eyesC · smiled · betwixtE · o'er · mixedE · rose · sleekF · spot · streakF · bowD · stone · glanced · calcedon · cavalierB · rideG · love · criedG · sideG · degree · said · loyalty
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The earth was sown with early flowers, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| The heavens were blue and bright-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| I met a youthful cavalier | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As lovely as the light. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I knew him not--but in my heart | 8 | ········ |
| His graceful image lies, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And well I marked his open brow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| His sweet and tender eyes, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| His ruddy lips that ever smiled, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His glittering teeth betwixt, | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| And flowing robe embroidered o'er, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| With leaves and blossoms mixed. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He wore a chaplet of the rose; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His palfrey, white and sleek, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Was marked with many an ebon spot, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| And many a purple streak; | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Of jasper was his saddle-bow, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His housings sapphire stone, | 7 | ·/˘/˘˘· |
| And brightly in his stirrup glanced | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The purple calcedon. | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Fast rode the gallant cavalier, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As youthful horsemen ride; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| "Peyre Vidal! know that I am Love," | 8 | ·˘/····· |
| The blooming stranger cried; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| "And this is Mercy by my side, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A dame of high degree; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| This maid is Chastity," he said, | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| "This squire is Loyalty." | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| THE LOVE OF GOD. deg. | 5 | ····· |
On this poem
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.