On Jordan's Banks
On Jordan's banks the Arab's camels stray,On Sion's hill the False One's votaries pray,The Baal-adorer bows on Sinai's steep--Yet there--even there--Oh God! thy thunders sleep:
There--where thy finger scorched the tablet stone!There--where thy shadow to thy people shone!Thy glory shrouded in its garb of fire:Thyself--none living see and not expire!
Oh! in the lightning let thy glance appear;Sweep from his shivered hand the oppressor's spear!How long by tyrants shall thy land be trod?How long thy temple worshipless, Oh God?
Words in this poem
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Jordan's Banks 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, On Jordan's Banks, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/on-jordan-s-banks.html, id L23942.
Form and metre
On Jordan's Banks is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 strayA · prayA · steepB · sleepB
- 2 AABB stoneA · shoneA · fireB · expireB
- 3 AABB appearA · spearA · trodB · godB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On Jordan's banks the Arab's camels stray, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| On Sion's hill the False One's votaries pray, | 9 | ········· |
| The Baal-adorer bows on Sinai's steep-- | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘··/·· |
| Yet there--even there--Oh God! thy thunders sleep: | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| There--where thy finger scorched the tablet stone! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There--where thy shadow to thy people shone! | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Thy glory shrouded in its garb of fire: | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| Thyself--none living see and not expire! | 10 | ˘/·/˘···˘/ |
| Oh! in the lightning let thy glance appear; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Sweep from his shivered hand the oppressor's spear! | 11 | ···/˘··˘/˘· |
| How long by tyrants shall thy land be trod? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| How long thy temple worshipless, Oh God? | 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.