From the German of Heinrich Heine
The Countess Jutta passed over the RhineIn a light canoe by the moon's pale shine.The handmaid rows and the Countess speaks:"Seest thou not there where the water breaksSeven corpses swimIn the moonlight dim?So sorrowful swim the dead!
"They were seven knights full of fire and youth,They sank on my heart and swore me truth.I trusted them; but for Truth's sweet sake,Lest they should be tempted their oaths to break,I had them bound,And tenderly drowned!So sorrowful swim the dead!"
The merry Countess laughed outright!It rang so wild in the startled night!Up to the waist the dead men riseAnd stretch lean fingers to the skies.They nod and stareWith a glassy glare!So sorrowful swim the dead!
Words in this poem
- countess n.
- The wife of an earl in the British peerage, or of a count in the Continental nobility; also, a lady possessed of the same dignity in her own right. See the Note under Count. [F. comtesse. See Count a nobleman.]
- handmaid n.
- A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- outright adv.
- Immediately; without delay; at once; as, he was killed outright.
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From the German of Heinrich Heine 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, From the German of Heinrich Heine, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/from-the-german-of-heinrich-heine.html, id L21640.
Form and metre
From the German of Heinrich Heine is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 76% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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--BB- rhineA · shineA · speaks · breaks · swimB · dimB · dead
- 2 AABBCC- youthA · truthA · sakeB · breakB · boundC · drownedC · dead
- 3 AABBCC- outrightA · nightA · riseB · skiesB · stareC · glareC · dead
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Countess Jutta passed over the Rhine | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| In a light canoe by the moon's pale shine. | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| The handmaid rows and the Countess speaks: | 9 | ······/˘· |
| "Seest thou not there where the water breaks | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Seven corpses swim | 5 | /˘/˘· |
| In the moonlight dim? | 5 | ··/·· |
| So sorrowful swim the dead! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| "They were seven knights full of fire and youth, | 9 | ··/···/·· |
| They sank on my heart and swore me truth. | 9 | ········· |
| I trusted them; but for Truth's sweet sake, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Lest they should be tempted their oaths to break, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| I had them bound, | 4 | ···· |
| And tenderly drowned! | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| So sorrowful swim the dead!" | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The merry Countess laughed outright! | 8 | ·/˘/˘·// |
| It rang so wild in the startled night! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Up to the waist the dead men rise | 8 | ········ |
| And stretch lean fingers to the skies. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| They nod and stare | 4 | ···· |
| With a glassy glare! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| So sorrowful swim the dead! | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
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.