Canto II: Ge XXII
Zuleika, mute and motionless,Stood like that Statue of Distress,When, her last hope for ever gone,The Mother hardened into stone;All in the maid that eye could seeWas but a younger Niobe.But ere her lip, or even her eye,Essayed to speak, or look reply,Beneath the garden's wicket porchFar flashed on high a blazing torch!Another--and another--and another--"Oh! fly--no more--yet now my more than brother!"Far, wide, through every thicket spreadThe fearful lights are gleaming red;Nor these alone--for each right handIs ready with a sheathless brand.They part--pursue--return, and wheelWith searching flambeau, shining steel;And last of all, his sabre waving,Stern Giaffir in his fury raving:And now almost they touch the cave--Oh! must that grot be Selim's grave?
Words in this poem
- niobe n.
- The daughter of Tantalus, and wife of Amphion, king of Thebes.
- sheathless a.
- Without a sheath or case for covering; unsheathed.
- flambeau n.
- A flaming torch, esp. one made by combining together a number of thick wicks invested with a quick-burning substance (anciently, perhaps, wax; in modern times, pitch or the like); hence, any torch. [F., fr. OF. flambe flame, for flamble, from L. flammula a little flame, dim. of flamma flame. See Flame.]
- sabre n.
- A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword. Saber fish, or Sabre fish (Zoöl.), the cutlass fish.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II: Ge XXII 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 XXII, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/canto-ii-ge-xxii.html, id L23893.
Form and metre
Canto II: Ge XXII is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AA--B-BBCCDDEEFFGGHHII motionlessA · distressA · gone · stone · seeB · niobe · eyeB · replyB · porchC · torchC · anotherD · brotherD · spreadE · redE · handF · brandF · wheelG · steelG · wavingH · ravingH · caveI · graveI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Zuleika, mute and motionless, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Stood like that Statue of Distress, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| When, her last hope for ever gone, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Mother hardened into stone; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| All in the maid that eye could see | 8 | ········ |
| Was but a younger Niobe. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| But ere her lip, or even her eye, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Essayed to speak, or look reply, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Beneath the garden's wicket porch | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Far flashed on high a blazing torch! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Another--and another--and another-- | 11 | ˘/˘·˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| "Oh! fly--no more--yet now my more than brother!" | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Far, wide, through every thicket spread | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The fearful lights are gleaming red; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor these alone--for each right hand | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Is ready with a sheathless brand. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They part--pursue--return, and wheel | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| With searching flambeau, shining steel; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And last of all, his sabre waving, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Stern Giaffir in his fury raving: | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And now almost they touch the cave-- | 8 | ··/····· |
| Oh! must that grot be Selim's grave? | 8 | ········ |
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