Lalila, to the Ferengi Lover
Why above others was I so blessedAnd honoured? to be chosen oneTo hold you, sleeping, against my breast,As now I may hold your only son.
Twelve months ago; that wonderful night!You gave your life to me in a kiss;Have I done well, for that past delight,In return, to have given you this?
Look down at his face, your face, beloved,His eyes are azure as yours are blue.In every line of his form is provedHow well I loved you, and only you.
I felt the secret hope at my heartTurned suddenly to the living joy,And knew that your life and mine had partAs golden grains in a brass alloy.
And learning thus, that your child was mine,Thrilled by the sense of its stirring life,I held myself as a sacred shrineAfar from pleasure, and pain, and strife,
That all unworthy I might not beOf that you had deigned to cause to dwellHidden away in the heart of me,As white pearls hide in a dusky shell.
Do you remember, when first you laidYour lips on mine, that enchanted night?My eyes were timid, my lips afraid,You seemed so slender and strangely white.
I always tremble; the moments flewSwiftly to dawn that took you away,But this is a small and lovely youContent to rest in my arms all day.
Oh, since you have sought me, Lord, for this,And given your only child to me,My life devoted to yours and his,Whilst I am living, will always be.
And after death, through the long To Be,(Which, I think, must surely keep love's laws,)I, should you chance to have need of me,Am ever and always, only yours.
Words in this poem
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lalila, to the Ferengi Lover is in the public domain. This text is taken from India's Love Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #8197; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Laurence Hope, Lalila, to the Ferengi Lover, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/lalila-to-the-ferengi-lover.html, id L22629.
Form and metre
Lalila, to the Ferengi Lover is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 7 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 blessedA · oneB · breastA · sonB
- 2 ABAB nightA · kissB · delightA · thisB
- 3 -A-A beloved · blueA · proved · youA
- 4 ABAB heartA · joyB · partA · alloyB
- 5 ABAB mineA · lifeB · shrineA · strifeB
- 6 ABAB beA · dwellB · meA · shellB
- 7 ABAB laidA · nightB · afraidA · whiteB
- 8 ABAB flewA · awayB · youA · dayB
- 9 -A-A this · meA · his · beA
- 10 A-A- beA · laws · meA · yours
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Why above others was I so blessed | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| And honoured? to be chosen one | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To hold you, sleeping, against my breast, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| As now I may hold your only son. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Twelve months ago; that wonderful night! | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| You gave your life to me in a kiss; | 9 | ········· |
| Have I done well, for that past delight, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| In return, to have given you this? | 8 | ·˘/··/·· |
| Look down at his face, your face, beloved, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| His eyes are azure as yours are blue. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| In every line of his form is proved | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| How well I loved you, and only you. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I felt the secret hope at my heart | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Turned suddenly to the living joy, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And knew that your life and mine had part | 9 | ········· |
| As golden grains in a brass alloy. | 9 | ·/˘····/· |
| And learning thus, that your child was mine, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Thrilled by the sense of its stirring life, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I held myself as a sacred shrine | 9 | ···/··/˘· |
| Afar from pleasure, and pain, and strife, | 9 | ˘/·/˘···· |
| That all unworthy I might not be | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Of that you had deigned to cause to dwell | 9 | ········· |
| Hidden away in the heart of me, | 9 | /˘˘/····· |
| As white pearls hide in a dusky shell. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Do you remember, when first you laid | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Your lips on mine, that enchanted night? | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| My eyes were timid, my lips afraid, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| You seemed so slender and strangely white. | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| I always tremble; the moments flew | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| Swiftly to dawn that took you away, | 9 | /˘·····˘/ |
| But this is a small and lovely you | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Content to rest in my arms all day. | 9 | /˘······· |
| Oh, since you have sought me, Lord, for this, | 9 | ········· |
| And given your only child to me, | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| My life devoted to yours and his, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Whilst I am living, will always be. | 9 | ···/˘·/·· |
| And after death, through the long To Be, | 9 | ········· |
| (Which, I think, must surely keep love's laws,) | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| I, should you chance to have need of me, | 9 | ········· |
| Am ever and always, only yours. | 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.