Poem VII
"Zuleika! child of Gentleness!How dear this very day must tell,When I forget my own distress,In losing what I love so well,To bid thee with another dwell:Another! and a braver manWas never seen in battle's van.We Moslem reck not much of blood:But yet the line of CarasmanUnchanged, unchangeable hath stoodFirst of the bold Timariot bandsThat won and well can keep their lands.fnEnough that he who comes to woofoIs kinsman of the Bey Oglou:His years need scarce a thought employ;I would not have thee wed a boy.And thou shalt have a noble dower:And his and my united powerWill laugh to scorn the death-firman,Which others tremble but to scan,And teach the messenger what fateThe bearer of such boon may wait.And now thou know'st thy father's will;All that thy sex hath need to know:'Twas mine to teach obedience still--The way to love, thy Lord may show."
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- reck v. t.
- To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
- kinsman n.
- A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- scan v. t.
- To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
- boon n.
- A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem VII 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, Poem VII, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/poem-vii.html, id L23872.
Form and metre
Poem VII is 26 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABBCCD-D----EE--CCFFGHGH gentlenessA · tellB · distressA · wellB · dwellB · manC · vanC · bloodD · carasman · stoodD · bands · lands.fn · woofo · oglou · employE · boyE · dower · power · firmanC · scanC · fateF · waitF · willG · knowH · stillG · showH
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! child of Gentleness! | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| How dear this very day must tell, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When I forget my own distress, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| In losing what I love so well, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To bid thee with another dwell: | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Another! and a braver man | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Was never seen in battle's van. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| We Moslem reck not much of blood: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But yet the line of Carasman | 8 | ········ |
| Unchanged, unchangeable hath stood | 8 | ˘/······ |
| First of the bold Timariot bands | 8 | ········ |
| That won and well can keep their lands.fn | 9 | ········· |
| Enough that he who comes to woofo | 9 | ˘/······· |
| Is kinsman of the Bey Oglou: | 8 | ·/······ |
| His years need scarce a thought employ; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I would not have thee wed a boy. | 8 | ········ |
| And thou shalt have a noble dower: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And his and my united power | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| Will laugh to scorn the death-firman, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Which others tremble but to scan, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And teach the messenger what fate | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The bearer of such boon may wait. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And now thou know'st thy father's will; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| All that thy sex hath need to know: | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twas mine to teach obedience still-- | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The way to love, thy Lord may show." | 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.