The Falcon and the Lily
MY darling rides across the sand;The wind is warm, the wind is bland;It lifts the pony’s glossy mane,So light and proud she holds his rein.Not easier bears a leaf the dewThan she her scarf and kirtle blue,And on her wrist, in bells and jess,The falcon perched for idleness.That merry bird, O would I were!In joy with her, in joy with her.
My darling comes not from her bower,The lowered pennon sweeps the tower;The larches droop their tassels low,And bells are marshalled to and fro.My heart, my heart, beholds her now,The pallid hands, the saintly brow,The lily with chill death oppressedAgainst the summer of her breast:That lily pale, O would I were!In peace with her, in peace with her.
Words in this poem
- kirtle n.
- A garment varying in form and use at different times, and worn doth by men and women. [OE. kirtel, curtel, AS. cyrtel; skin to Icel. kyrtill, Sw. kjortel, Dan. kiortel, kiole.]
- jess n.
- A short strap of leather or silk secured round the leg of a hawk, to which the leash or line, wrapped round the falconer's hand, was attached when used. See Illust. of Falcon. [OF. gies, giez, prop. pl. of giet, get, jet, F. jet, a throwing, jess. See Jet a shooting forth.]
- pennon n.
- A wing; a pinion. [Cf. Pinion.]
- saintly a.
- Like a saint; becoming a holy person.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Falcon and the Lily is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs at the Start, Project Gutenberg ebook #53087; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Louise Imogen Guiney, The Falcon and the Lily, in Songs at the Start (1884), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #53087, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/guiney-songs/the-falcon-and-the-lily.html, id L11212.
Form and metre
The Falcon and the Lily is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABBCCDDEE. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% 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 AABBCCDDEE sandA · blandA · maneB · reinB · dewC · blueC · jessD · idlenessD · wereE · herE
- 2 AABBCCDDEE bowerA · towerA · lowB · froB · nowC · browC · oppressedD · breastD · wereE · herE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MY darling rides across the sand; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| The wind is warm, the wind is bland; | 8 | ········ |
| It lifts the pony’s glossy mane, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| So light and proud she holds his rein. | 8 | ········ |
| Not easier bears a leaf the dew | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Than she her scarf and kirtle blue, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And on her wrist, in bells and jess, | 8 | ········ |
| The falcon perched for idleness. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| That merry bird, O would I were! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In joy with her, in joy with her. | 8 | ········ |
| My darling comes not from her bower, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| The lowered pennon sweeps the tower; | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| The larches droop their tassels low, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And bells are marshalled to and fro. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My heart, my heart, beholds her now, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The pallid hands, the saintly brow, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The lily with chill death oppressed | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Against the summer of her breast: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That lily pale, O would I were! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In peace with her, in peace with her. | 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.