Amadis and Oriana
O sunset, from the springs of starsDraw down thy cataracts of gold;And belt their streams with burning barsOf ruby on which flame is rolled:Drench dingles with laburnum light;Drown every vale in violet blaze:Rain rose-light down; and, poppy-bright,Die downward o'er the hills of haze,And bring at last the stars of night!
The stars and moon! that silver world,Which, like a spirit, faces west,Her foam-white feet with light empearled,Bearing white flame within her breast:Earth's sister sphere of fire and snow,Who shows to Earth her heart's pale heat,And bids her mark its pulses glow,And hear their crystal currents beatWith beauty, lighting all below.
O cricket, with thy elfin pipe,That tinkles in the grass and grain;And dove-pale buds, that, dropping, stripeThe glen's blue night, and smell of rain;O nightingale, that so dost wailOn yonder blossoming branch of snow,Thrill, fill the wild deer-haunted dale,Where Oriana, walking slow,Comes, thro' the moonlight, dreamy pale.
She comes to meet me!--Earth and airGrow radiant with another light.In her dark eyes and her dark hairAre all the stars and all the night:She comes! I clasp her!--and it isAs if no grief had ever been.--In all the world for us who kissThere are no other women or menBut Oriana and Amadis.
Words in this poem
- laburnum n.
- A small leguminous tree (Cytisus Laburnum), native of the Alps. [L.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- elfin a.
- Relating to elves.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Amadis and Oriana is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #7796; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Madison Julius Cawein, Amadis and Oriana, in Poems (1911), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7796, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cawein-poems/amadis-and-oriana.html, id L10947.
Form and metre
Amadis and Oriana is 36 lines in 4 stanzas of 9 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCDC, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 28% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABABCDCDC starsA · goldB · barsA · rolledB · lightC · blazeD · brightC · hazeD · nightC
- 2 -A-ABCBCB world · westA · empearled · breastA · snowB · heatC · glowB · beatC · belowB
- 3 ABABCDCDC pipeA · grainB · stripeA · rainB · wailC · snowD · daleC · slowD · paleC
- 4 ABAB----- airA · lightB · hairA · nightB · is · been · kiss · men · amadis
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O sunset, from the springs of stars | 8 | ·/······ |
| Draw down thy cataracts of gold; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And belt their streams with burning bars | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of ruby on which flame is rolled: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Drench dingles with laburnum light; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Drown every vale in violet blaze: | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Rain rose-light down; and, poppy-bright, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Die downward o'er the hills of haze, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And bring at last the stars of night! | 8 | ········ |
| The stars and moon! that silver world, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which, like a spirit, faces west, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Her foam-white feet with light empearled, | 8 | ········ |
| Bearing white flame within her breast: | 8 | /˘······ |
| Earth's sister sphere of fire and snow, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Who shows to Earth her heart's pale heat, | 8 | ········ |
| And bids her mark its pulses glow, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And hear their crystal currents beat | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With beauty, lighting all below. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| O cricket, with thy elfin pipe, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That tinkles in the grass and grain; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And dove-pale buds, that, dropping, stripe | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The glen's blue night, and smell of rain; | 8 | ········ |
| O nightingale, that so dost wail | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| On yonder blossoming branch of snow, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thrill, fill the wild deer-haunted dale, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where Oriana, walking slow, | 8 | ·˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Comes, thro' the moonlight, dreamy pale. | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| She comes to meet me!--Earth and air | 8 | ········ |
| Grow radiant with another light. | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| In her dark eyes and her dark hair | 8 | ········ |
| Are all the stars and all the night: | 8 | ········ |
| She comes! I clasp her!--and it is | 8 | ········ |
| As if no grief had ever been.-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In all the world for us who kiss | 8 | ········ |
| There are no other women or men | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| But Oriana and Amadis. | 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.