Canto II: Ge II
The winds are high on Helle's wave,As on that night of stormy waterWhen Love, who sent, forgot to saveThe young--the beautiful--the brave--The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter.Oh! when alone along the skyHer turret-torch was blazing high,Though rising gale, and breaking foam,And shrieking sea-birds warned him home;And clouds aloft and tides below,With signs and sounds, forbade to go,He could not see, he would not hear,Or sound or sign foreboding fear;His eye but saw that light of Love,The only star it hailed above;His ear but rang with Hero's song,"Ye waves, divide not lovers long!"--That tale is old, but Love anewMay nerve young hearts to prove as true.
The winds are high and Helle's tideRolls darkly heaving to the main;And Night's descending shadows hideThat field with blood bedewed in vain,The desert of old Priam's pride;The tombs, sole relics of his reign,All--save immortal dreams that could beguileThe blind old man of Scio's rocky isle!
Words in this poem
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II: Ge II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, Canto II: Ge II, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/canto-ii-ge-ii.html, id L23880.
Form and metre
Canto II: Ge II is 27 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
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 ABAABCCDDEEFFGGHHII waveA · waterB · saveA · braveA · daughterB · skyC · highC · foamD · homeD · belowE · goE · hearF · fearF · loveG · aboveG · songH · longH · anewI · trueI
- 2 ABABABCC tideA · mainB · hideA · vainB · prideA · reignB · beguileC · isleC
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 winds are high on Helle's wave, | 7 | ······· |
| As on that night of stormy water | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| When Love, who sent, forgot to save | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The young--the beautiful--the brave-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Oh! when alone along the sky | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| Her turret-torch was blazing high, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though rising gale, and breaking foam, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And shrieking sea-birds warned him home; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And clouds aloft and tides below, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| With signs and sounds, forbade to go, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| He could not see, he would not hear, | 8 | ········ |
| Or sound or sign foreboding fear; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| His eye but saw that light of Love, | 8 | ········ |
| The only star it hailed above; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His ear but rang with Hero's song, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Ye waves, divide not lovers long!"-- | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| That tale is old, but Love anew | 8 | ······˘/ |
| May nerve young hearts to prove as true. | 8 | ········ |
| The winds are high and Helle's tide | 7 | ······· |
| Rolls darkly heaving to the main; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And Night's descending shadows hide | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| That field with blood bedewed in vain, | 8 | ········ |
| The desert of old Priam's pride; | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| The tombs, sole relics of his reign, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All--save immortal dreams that could beguile | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle! | 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.