Ernst of Edelsheim
I'll tell the story, kissingThis white hand for my pains:No sweeter heart, nor falser,E'er filled such fine, blue veins.
I'll sing a song of true love,My Lilith, dear! to you;Contraria contrariis--The rule is old and true.
The happiest of all loversWas Ernst of Edelsheim;And why he was the happiest,I'll tell you in my rhyme.
One summer night he wanderedWithin a lonely glade,And, couched in moss and moonlight,He found a sleeping maid.
The stars of midnight siftedAbove her sands of gold;She seemed a slumbering statue,So fair and white and cold.
Fair and white and cold she layBeneath the starry skies;Rosy was her wakingBeneath the Ritter's eyes.
He won her drowsy fancy,He bore her to his towers,And swift with love and laughterFlew morning's purpled hours.
But when the thickening sunbeamsHad drunk the gleaming dew,A misty cloud of sorrowSwept o'er her eyes' deep blue.
She hung upon the Ritter's neck,She wept with love and pain,She showered her sweet, warm kissesLike fragrant summer rain.
"I am no Christian soul," she sobbed,As in his arms she lay;"I'm half the day a woman,A serpent half the day.
"And when from yonder bell-towerRings out the noonday chime,Farewell! farewell for ever,Sir Ernst of Edelsheim!"
"Ah! not farewell for ever!"The Ritter wildly cried;"I will be saved or lost with thee,My lovely Wili-Bride!"
Loud from the lordly bell-towerRang out the noon of day,And from the bower of rosesA serpent slid away.
But when the mid-watch moonlightWas shimmering through the grove,He clasped his bride thrice doweredWith beauty and with love.
The happiest of all loversWas Ernst of Edelsheim--His true love was a serpentOnly half the time!
Words in this poem
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- noonday n.
- Midday; twelve o'clock in the day; noon.
- chime n.
- The harmonious sound of bells, or of musical instruments. [OE. chimbe, prop., cymbal, OF. cymbe, cymble, in a dialectic form, chymble, F. cymbale, L. cymbalum, fr. Gr. Cymbal.]
- shimmering n.
- A gleam or glimmering.
- dowered p. a.
- Furnished with, or as with, dower or a marriage portion.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ernst of Edelsheim is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Hay, Ernst of Edelsheim, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/ernst-of-edelsheim.html, id L21591.
Form and metre
Ernst of Edelsheim is 60 lines in 15 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 kissing · painsA · falser · veinsA
- 2 -A-A love · youA · contrariis · trueA
- 3 -A-A lovers · edelsheimA · happiest · rhymeA
- 4 AA-A wanderedA · gladeA · moonlight · maidA
- 5 -A-A sifted · goldA · statue · coldA
- 6 -A-A lay · skiesA · waking · eyesA
- 7 -A-A fancy · towersA · laughter · hoursA
- 8 -A-A sunbeams · dewA · sorrow · blueA
- 9 -A-A neck · painA · kisses · rainA
- 10 -A-A sobbed · layA · woman · dayA
- 11 -A-A tower · chimeA · ever · edelsheimA
- 12 -A-A ever · criedA · thee · brideA
- 13 -A-A tower · dayA · roses · awayA
- 15 -A-A lovers · edelsheimA · serpent · timeA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I'll tell the story, kissing | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| This white hand for my pains: | 6 | ······ |
| No sweeter heart, nor falser, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| E'er filled such fine, blue veins. | 6 | ······ |
| I'll sing a song of true love, | 7 | ······· |
| My Lilith, dear! to you; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Contraria contrariis-- | 6 | ······ |
| The rule is old and true. | 6 | ······ |
| The happiest of all lovers | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Was Ernst of Edelsheim; | 6 | ······ |
| And why he was the happiest, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I'll tell you in my rhyme. | 6 | ······ |
| One summer night he wandered | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Within a lonely glade, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And, couched in moss and moonlight, | 7 | ·····/· |
| He found a sleeping maid. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The stars of midnight sifted | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| Above her sands of gold; | 6 | ······ |
| She seemed a slumbering statue, | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| So fair and white and cold. | 6 | ······ |
| Fair and white and cold she lay | 7 | ······· |
| Beneath the starry skies; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Rosy was her waking | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Beneath the Ritter's eyes. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He won her drowsy fancy, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| He bore her to his towers, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And swift with love and laughter | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Flew morning's purpled hours. | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| But when the thickening sunbeams | 7 | ···/˘/· |
| Had drunk the gleaming dew, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A misty cloud of sorrow | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Swept o'er her eyes' deep blue. | 6 | ······ |
| She hung upon the Ritter's neck, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She wept with love and pain, | 6 | ······ |
| She showered her sweet, warm kisses | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| Like fragrant summer rain. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| "I am no Christian soul," she sobbed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As in his arms she lay; | 6 | ······ |
| "I'm half the day a woman, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| A serpent half the day. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| "And when from yonder bell-tower | 7 | ···/˘·/ |
| Rings out the noonday chime, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Farewell! farewell for ever, | 7 | ·/·/·/˘ |
| Sir Ernst of Edelsheim!" | 6 | ······ |
| "Ah! not farewell for ever!" | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| The Ritter wildly cried; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| "I will be saved or lost with thee, | 8 | ········ |
| My lovely Wili-Bride!" | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Loud from the lordly bell-tower | 7 | ···/˘·/ |
| Rang out the noon of day, | 6 | ······ |
| And from the bower of roses | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| A serpent slid away. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| But when the mid-watch moonlight | 7 | ·····/· |
| Was shimmering through the grove, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| He clasped his bride thrice dowered | 6 | ······ |
| With beauty and with love. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The happiest of all lovers | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Was Ernst of Edelsheim-- | 6 | ······ |
| His true love was a serpent | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Only half the time! | 5 | /˘··· |
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.