The Water Lady
Alas, the moon should ever beamTo show what man should never see!--I saw a maiden on a stream,And fair was she!
I staid awhile, to see her throwHer tresses black, that all besetThe fair horizon of her browWith clouds of jet.
I staid a little while to viewHer cheek, that wore in place of redThe bloom of water, tender blue,Daintily spread.
I staid to watch, a little space,Her parted lips if she would sing;The waters closed above her faceWith many a ring.
And still I staid a little more,Alas! she never comes again!I throw my flowers from the shore,And watch in vain.
I know my life will fade away,I know that I must vainly pine,For I am made of mortal clay,But she's divine!
Words in this poem
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- daintily adv.
- In a dainty manner; nicely; scrupulously; fastidiously; deliciously; prettily.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Water Lady is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, The Water Lady, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/the-water-lady.html, id L20073.
Form and metre
The Water Lady is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 97%).
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 ABAB beamA · seeB · streamA · sheB
- 2 -A-A throw · besetA · brow · jetA
- 3 ABAB viewA · redB · blueA · spreadB
- 4 ABAB spaceA · singB · faceA · ringB
- 5 ABAB moreA · againB · shoreA · vainB
- 6 ABAB awayA · pineB · clayA · divineB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alas, the moon should ever beam | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| To show what man should never see!-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I saw a maiden on a stream, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And fair was she! | 4 | ···· |
| I staid awhile, to see her throw | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Her tresses black, that all beset | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The fair horizon of her brow | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| With clouds of jet. | 4 | ···· |
| I staid a little while to view | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her cheek, that wore in place of red | 8 | ········ |
| The bloom of water, tender blue, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Daintily spread. | 4 | /˘˘· |
| I staid to watch, a little space, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her parted lips if she would sing; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The waters closed above her face | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With many a ring. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| And still I staid a little more, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Alas! she never comes again! | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| I throw my flowers from the shore, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And watch in vain. | 4 | ···· |
| I know my life will fade away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I know that I must vainly pine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For I am made of mortal clay, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But she's divine! | 4 | ··˘/ |
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.