Canto II: Ge XI
"I said I was not what I seemed;And now thou see'st my words were true:I have a tale thou hast not dreamed,If sooth--its truth must others rue.My story now 'twere vain to hide,I must not see thee Osman's bride:But had not thine own lips declaredHow much of that young heart I shared,I could not, must not, yet have shownThe darker secret of my own.In this I speak not now of love;That--let Time--Truth--and Peril prove:But first--Oh! never wed another--Zuleika! I am not thy brother!"
"Oh! not my brother!--yet unsay--God! am I left alone on earthTo mourn--I dare not curse--the daygiThat saw my solitary birth?Oh! thou wilt love me now no more!My sinking heart foreboded ill;But know me all I was before,Thy sister--friend--Zuleika still.Thou led'st me here perchance to kill;If thou hast cause for vengeance, see!My breast is offered--take thy fill!Far better with the dead to beThan live thus nothing now to thee:Perhaps far worse, for now I knowWhy Giaffir always seemed thy foe;And I, alas! am Giaffir's child,For whom thou wert contemned, reviled.If not thy sister--would'st thou saveMy life--Oh! bid me be thy slave!"
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- unsay v. t.
- To recant or recall, as what has been said; to refract; to take back again; to make as if not said. [1st pref. un- + say.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II: Ge XI 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 XI, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/canto-ii-ge-xi.html, id L23885.
Form and metre
Canto II: Ge XI is 33 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABABCCDDEEFFGG seemedA · trueB · dreamedA · rueB · hideC · brideC · declaredD · sharedD · shownE · ownE · loveF · proveF · anotherG · brotherG
- 2 -A-ABCBCCDCDDEEFFGG unsay · earthA · daygi · birthA · moreB · illC · beforeB · stillC · killC · seeD · fillC · beD · theeD · knowE · foeE · childF · reviledF · saveG · slaveG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "I said I was not what I seemed; | 8 | ········ |
| And now thou see'st my words were true: | 8 | ········ |
| I have a tale thou hast not dreamed, | 8 | ········ |
| If sooth--its truth must others rue. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My story now 'twere vain to hide, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I must not see thee Osman's bride: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But had not thine own lips declared | 8 | ······˘/ |
| How much of that young heart I shared, | 8 | ········ |
| I could not, must not, yet have shown | 8 | ········ |
| The darker secret of my own. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In this I speak not now of love; | 8 | ········ |
| That--let Time--Truth--and Peril prove: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But first--Oh! never wed another-- | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Zuleika! I am not thy brother!" | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| "Oh! not my brother!--yet unsay-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| God! am I left alone on earth | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To mourn--I dare not curse--the daygi | 9 | ········· |
| That saw my solitary birth? | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Oh! thou wilt love me now no more! | 8 | ········ |
| My sinking heart foreboded ill; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| But know me all I was before, | 8 | ········ |
| Thy sister--friend--Zuleika still. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou led'st me here perchance to kill; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| If thou hast cause for vengeance, see! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My breast is offered--take thy fill! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Far better with the dead to be | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Than live thus nothing now to thee: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Perhaps far worse, for now I know | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Why Giaffir always seemed thy foe; | 8 | ···/···· |
| And I, alas! am Giaffir's child, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| For whom thou wert contemned, reviled. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| If not thy sister--would'st thou save | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My life--Oh! bid me be thy slave!" | 8 | ········ |
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.