Bewitched
I have heard a lady this night,Lissom and jimp and slim,Calling me -- calling me over the heather,'Neath the beech boughs dusk and dim.
I have followed a lady this night,Followed her far and lone,Fox and adder and weasel knowThe ways that we have gone.
I sit at my supper 'mid honest faces,And crumble my crust and sayNaught in the long-drawn drawl of the voicesTalking the hours away.
I'll go to my chamber under the gable,And the moon will lift her lightIn at my lattice from over the moorlandHollow and still and bright.
And I know she will shine on a lady of witchcraft,Gladness and grief to see,Who has taken my heart with her nimble fingers,Calls in my dreams to me;
Who has led me a dance by dell and dingleMy human soul to win,Made me a changeling to my own, own mother,A stranger to my kin.
Words in this poem
- lissom a.
- Limber; supple; flexible; lithe; lithesome. [For lithesome.]
- jimp a.
- Neat; handsome; elegant. See Gimp. [Cf. Gimp, a.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- drawl v. t.
- To utter in a slow, lengthened tone. [Prob. fr. draw: cf. D. dralen to linger, tarry, Icel. dralla to loiter. See Draw, and cf. Draggle.]
- gable n.
- A cable. Chapman.
- moorland n.
- Land consisting of a moor or moors. [AS. morland.]
- dell n.
- A small, retired valley; a ravine. [AS. del, akin to E. dale; cf. D. delle, del, low ground. See Dale.]
- dingle n.
- A narrow dale; a small dell; a small, secluded, and embowered valley. [Of uncertain origin: cf. AS. ding prison; or perh. akin to dimble.]
- changeling n.
- One who, or that which, is left or taken in the place of another, as a child exchanged by fairies. [Change + -ling.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bewitched is in the public domain. This text is taken from Peacock Pie, a Book of Rhymes, Project Gutenberg ebook #3753; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walter de la Mare, Bewitched, in Peacock Pie (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3753, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/de-la-mare-peacock-pie/bewitched.html, id L12620.
Form and metre
Bewitched is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. 87% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 -A-A night · slimA · heather · dimA
- 3 -A-A faces · sayA · voices · awayA
- 4 -A-A gable · lightA · moorland · brightA
- 5 -A-A witchcraft · seeA · fingers · meA
- 6 -A-A dingle · winA · mother · kinA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I have heard a lady this night, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Lissom and jimp and slim, | 6 | ······ |
| Calling me -- calling me over the heather, | 10 | /˘·/˘···/˘ |
| 'Neath the beech boughs dusk and dim. | 7 | ······· |
| I have followed a lady this night, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Followed her far and lone, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Fox and adder and weasel know | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| The ways that we have gone. | 6 | ······ |
| I sit at my supper 'mid honest faces, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘/˘ |
| And crumble my crust and say | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Naught in the long-drawn drawl of the voices | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Talking the hours away. | 6 | /˘·/˘/ |
| I'll go to my chamber under the gable, | 11 | ····/˘···/˘ |
| And the moon will lift her light | 7 | ······· |
| In at my lattice from over the moorland | 10 | ···/˘···/· |
| Hollow and still and bright. | 6 | /˘···· |
| And I know she will shine on a lady of witchcraft, | 13 | ········/˘·/· |
| Gladness and grief to see, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Who has taken my heart with her nimble fingers, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Calls in my dreams to me; | 6 | ······ |
| Who has led me a dance by dell and dingle | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| My human soul to win, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Made me a changeling to my own, own mother, | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| A stranger to my kin. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.