Lewti or the Circassian Love-Chaunt
At midnight by the stream I roved,To forget the form I loved.Image of Lewti! from my mindDepart; for Lewti is not kind.
The Moon was high, the moonlight gleamAnd the shadow of a starHeaved upon Tamaha's stream;But the rock shone brighter far,The rock half sheltered from my viewBy pendent boughs of tressy yew.--So shines my Lewti's forehead fair,Gleaming through her sable hair,Image of Lewti! from my mindDepart; for Lewti is not kind.
I saw a cloud of palest hue,Onward to the moon it passed;Still brighter and more bright it grew,With floating colours not a few,Till it reach'd the moon at last:Then the cloud was wholly bright,With a rich and amber light!And so with many a hope I seekAnd with such joy I find my Lewti;And even so my pale wan cheekDrinks in as deep a flush of beauty!Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind,If Lewti never will be kind.
The little cloud-it floats away,Away it goes; away so soon?Alas! it has no power to stay:Its hues are dim, its hues are grey--Away it passes from the moon!How mournfully it seems to fly,Ever fading more and more,To joyless regions of the sky--And now 'tis whiter than before!As white as my poor cheek will be,When, Lewti! on my couch I lie,A dying man for love of thee.Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind--And yet, thou didst not look unkind.
I saw a vapour in the sky,Thin, and white, and very high;I ne'er beheld so thin a cloud:Perhaps the breezes that can flyNow below and now above,Have snatched aloft the lawny shroudOf Lady fair--that died for love.For maids, as well as youths, have perishedFrom fruitless love too fondly cherished.Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind--For Lewti never will be kind.
Hush! my heedless feet from underSlip the crumbling banks for ever:Like echoes to a distant thunder,They plunge into the gentle river.The river-swans have heard my tread,And startle from their reedy bed.O beauteous birds! methinks ye measureYour movements to some heavenly tune!O beauteous birds! 'tis such a pleasureTo see you move beneath the moon,I would it were your true delightTo sleep by day and wake all night.
I know the place where Lewti liesWhen silent night has closed her eyes:It is a breezy jasmine-bower,The nightingale sings o'er her head:Voice of the Night! had I the powerThat leafy labyrinth to thread,And creep, like thee, with soundless tread,I then might view her bosom whiteHeaving lovely to my sight,As these two swans together heaveOn the gently-swelling wave.
Oh! that she saw me in a dream,And dreamt that I had died for care;All pale and wasted I would seemYet fair withal, as spirits are!I'd die indeed, if I might seeHer bosom heave, and heave for me!Soothe, gentle image! soothe my mind!To-morrow Lewti may be kind.
Words in this poem 17
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- tressy a.
- Abounding in tresses. J. Baillie.
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- joyless a.
- Not having joy; not causing joy; unenjoyable.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
- lawny a.
- Having a lawn; characterized by a lawn or by lawns; like a lawn.
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- breezy a.
- Characterized by, or having, breezes; airy.
- soundless a.
- Not capable of being sounded or fathomed; unfathomable.
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lewti or the Circassian Love-Chaunt is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Coleridge, Project Gutenberg ebook #8208; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lewti or the Circassian Love-Chaunt, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/lewti-or-the-circassian-love-chaunt.html, id L00308.
Form and metre
Lewti or the Circassian Love-Chaunt is 83 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 12 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% 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 --AA roved · loved · mindA · kindA
- 2 ABABCCDDEE gleamA · starB · streamA · farB · viewC · yewC · fairD · hairD · mindE · kindE
- 3 ABAABCCD-D-EE hueA · passedB · grewA · fewA · lastB · brightC · lightC · seekD · lewti · cheekD · beauty · mindE · kindE
- 4 ABAABCDCDECEFF awayA · soonB · stayA · greyA · moonB · flyC · moreD · skyC · beforeD · beE · lieC · theeE · mindF · unkindF
- 5 AABACBCDDEE skyA · highA · cloudB · flyA · aboveC · shroudB · loveC · perishedD · cherishedD · mindE · kindE
- 6 A-A-BBCDCDEE underA · ever · thunderA · river · treadB · bedB · measureC · tuneD · pleasureC · moonD · delightE · nightE
- 7 AABCBCCDD-- liesA · eyesA · bowerB · headC · powerB · threadC · treadC · whiteD · sightD · heave · wave
- 8 A-A-BBCC dreamA · care · seemA · are · seeB · meB · mindC · kindC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| At midnight by the stream I roved, | 8 | ·/······ |
| To forget the form I loved. | 8 | ·˘/····˘ |
| Image of Lewti! from my mind | 8 | /˘······ |
| Depart; for Lewti is not kind. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The Moon was high, the moonlight gleam | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And the shadow of a star | 7 | ··/···· |
| Heaved upon Tamaha's stream; | 8 | ·˘······ |
| But the rock shone brighter far, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| The rock half sheltered from my view | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By pendent boughs of tressy yew.-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| So shines my Lewti's forehead fair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Gleaming through her sable hair, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Image of Lewti! from my mind | 8 | /˘······ |
| Depart; for Lewti is not kind. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| I saw a cloud of palest hue, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Onward to the moon it passed; | 8 | /˘·····˘ |
| Still brighter and more bright it grew, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With floating colours not a few, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Till it reach'd the moon at last: | 7 | ······· |
| Then the cloud was wholly bright, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With a rich and amber light! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And so with many a hope I seek | 8 | ···/···· |
| And with such joy I find my Lewti; | 9 | ········· |
| And even so my pale wan cheek | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Drinks in as deep a flush of beauty! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| If Lewti never will be kind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The little cloud-it floats away, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Away it goes; away so soon? | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Alas! it has no power to stay: | 8 | ˘/···/·· |
| Its hues are dim, its hues are grey-- | 8 | ········ |
| Away it passes from the moon! | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| How mournfully it seems to fly, | 8 | ········ |
| Ever fading more and more, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| To joyless regions of the sky-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And now 'tis whiter than before! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As white as my poor cheek will be, | 8 | ········ |
| When, Lewti! on my couch I lie, | 8 | ········ |
| A dying man for love of thee. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And yet, thou didst not look unkind. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I saw a vapour in the sky, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thin, and white, and very high; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| I ne'er beheld so thin a cloud: | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Perhaps the breezes that can fly | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Now below and now above, | 7 | ······· |
| Have snatched aloft the lawny shroud | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Of Lady fair--that died for love. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For maids, as well as youths, have perished | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| From fruitless love too fondly cherished. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Nay, treacherous image! leave my mind-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For Lewti never will be kind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hush! my heedless feet from under | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Slip the crumbling banks for ever: | 9 | ··/˘˘··/˘ |
| Like echoes to a distant thunder, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| They plunge into the gentle river. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| The river-swans have heard my tread, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And startle from their reedy bed. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| O beauteous birds! methinks ye measure | 10 | ·/˘˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Your movements to some heavenly tune! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| O beauteous birds! 'tis such a pleasure | 10 | ·/˘˘····/˘ |
| To see you move beneath the moon, | 8 | ········ |
| I would it were your true delight | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To sleep by day and wake all night. | 8 | ········ |
| I know the place where Lewti lies | 8 | ········ |
| When silent night has closed her eyes: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| It is a breezy jasmine-bower, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| The nightingale sings o'er her head: | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Voice of the Night! had I the power | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| That leafy labyrinth to thread, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And creep, like thee, with soundless tread, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I then might view her bosom white | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Heaving lovely to my sight, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| As these two swans together heave | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| On the gently-swelling wave. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Oh! that she saw me in a dream, | 8 | ········ |
| And dreamt that I had died for care; | 8 | ········ |
| All pale and wasted I would seem | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet fair withal, as spirits are! | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| I'd die indeed, if I might see | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Her bosom heave, and heave for me! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Soothe, gentle image! soothe my mind! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To-morrow Lewti may be kind. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
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