A Love Story
He was a Wizard’s son,She an Enchanter’s daughter;He dabbled in Spells for fun,Her father some magic had taught her.
They loved--but alas! to agreeTheir parents they could n’t persuade.An Enchanter and Wizard, you see,Were natural rivals in trade--And the market for magic was poor--There was scarce enough business for twoSo what started rivalry pureInto hatred and jealousy grew.
Now the lovers were dreadfully good;But when there was really no hope,After waiting as long as they could,What else could they do but elope?They eloped in a hired coupé;And the youth, with what magic he knew--Made it go fully five miles a day.(Such wonders can sorcery do!)
Then the maiden her witcheries plied,And enchanted the cabman so much,When they got to the end of their rideNot a cent of his fare would he touch!Now they’re married and live to this dayIn a nice little tower, alone,For the building of which, by the way,Their parents provided the stone.
Then the parents relented? Oh, no!They pursued with the fury of brutes,But arrived just too late for the show,Through a leak in their seven-league boots;And finding their children were wed,Into such a wild rage they were thrown,They rushed on each other insteadAnd each turned the other to stone.
Then the lovers, since lumber was high,And bricks were as then quite unknown,As soon as their tears were quite dry--They quarried their parents for stone.
And now in a nice little tower,In Blissfulness tinged with Remorse,They live like as not to this hour--(Unless they have got a divorce).
Words in this poem
- enchanter n.
- One who enchants; a sorcerer or magician; also, one who delights as by an enchantment. [Cf. F. enchanteur.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- dreadfully adv.
- In a dreadful manner; terribly.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- cabman n.
- The driver of a cab.
- rushed a.
- Abounding or covered with rushes.
- quarried a.
- Provided with prey.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Love Story is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bashful Earthquake, & Other Fables and Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #56765; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Herford, A Love Story, in The Bashful Earthquake, and Other Fables and Verses (1898), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #56765, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herford-bashful-earthquake/a-love-story.html, id L22119.
Form and metre
A Love Story is 44 lines in 7 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 2 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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- sonA · daughter · funA · her
- 2 ABABCDCD agreeA · persuadeB · seeA · tradeB · poorC · twoD · pureC · grewD
- 3 ABABCC-C goodA · hopeB · couldA · elopeB · coupéC · knewC · day · doC
- 4 ABABCDCD pliedA · muchB · rideA · touchB · dayC · aloneD · wayC · stoneD
- 5 A-A-BCBC noA · brutes · showA · boots · wedB · thrownC · insteadB · stoneC
- 6 ABAB highA · unknownB · dryA · stoneB
- 7 ABAB towerA · remorseB · hourA · divorceB
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 anapaestic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| He was a Wizard’s son, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| She an Enchanter’s daughter; | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| He dabbled in Spells for fun, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Her father some magic had taught her. | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| They loved--but alas! to agree | 8 | ···˘/·˘/ |
| Their parents they could n’t persuade. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| An Enchanter and Wizard, you see, | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Were natural rivals in trade-- | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| And the market for magic was poor-- | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| There was scarce enough business for two | 9 | ···˘//˘·· |
| So what started rivalry pure | 8 | ··/˘/˘˘· |
| Into hatred and jealousy grew. | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| Now the lovers were dreadfully good; | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| But when there was really no hope, | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| After waiting as long as they could, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| What else could they do but elope? | 8 | ······˘/ |
| They eloped in a hired coupé; | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| And the youth, with what magic he knew-- | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Made it go fully five miles a day. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| (Such wonders can sorcery do!) | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Then the maiden her witcheries plied, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And enchanted the cabman so much, | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| When they got to the end of their ride | 9 | ········· |
| Not a cent of his fare would he touch! | 9 | ········· |
| Now they’re married and live to this day | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| In a nice little tower, alone, | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| For the building of which, by the way, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Their parents provided the stone. | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘·· |
| Then the parents relented? Oh, no! | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| They pursued with the fury of brutes, | 9 | ·˘/··/˘·· |
| But arrived just too late for the show, | 9 | ·˘/······ |
| Through a leak in their seven-league boots; | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And finding their children were wed, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| Into such a wild rage they were thrown, | 9 | ········· |
| They rushed on each other instead | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| And each turned the other to stone. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Then the lovers, since lumber was high, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| And bricks were as then quite unknown, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As soon as their tears were quite dry-- | 8 | ········ |
| They quarried their parents for stone. | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| And now in a nice little tower, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| In Blissfulness tinged with Remorse, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| They live like as not to this hour-- | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| (Unless they have got a divorce). | 8 | ······˘/ |
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