Story by Lalla-ji, the Priest
He loved the Plant with a keen delight,A passionate fervour, strange to see,Tended it ardently, day and night,Yet never a flower lit up the tree.
The leaves were succulent, thick, and green,And, sessile, out of the snakelike stemRose spine-like fingers, alert and keen,To catch at aught that molested them.
But though they nurtured it day and night,With love and labour, the child and heWere never granted the longed-for sightOf a flower crowning the twisted tree.
Until one evening a wayworn PriestStopped for the night in the Temple shadeAnd shared the fare of their simple feastUnder the vines and the jasmin laid.
He, later, wandering round the flowersPaused awhile by the blossomless tree.The man said, "May it be fault of ours,That never its buds my eyes may see?
"Aslip it came from the further EastMany a sunlit summer ago.""It grows in our Jungles," said the Priest,"Men see it rarely; but this I know,
"The Jungle people worship it; sayThey bury a child around its roots--Bury it living:--the only wayTo crimson glory of flowers and fruits."
He spoke in whispers; his furtive glanceProbing the depths of the garden shade.The man came closer, with eyes askance,The child beside them shivered, afraid.
A cold wind drifted about the three,Jarring the spines with a hungry sound,The spines that grew on the snakelike treeAnd guarded its roots beneath the ground.
After the fall of the summer rainThe plant was glorious, redly gay,Blood-red with blossom. Never againMen saw the child in the Temple play.
Words in this poem
- fervour n.
- Heat; excessive warmth. [OF. fervor, fervour, F. ferveur, L. fervor, fr. fervere. See Fervent.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- wayworn a.
- Wearied by traveling.
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- blossomless a.
- Without blossoms.
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- jungle n.
- A dense growth of brushwood, grasses, reeds, vines, etc.; an almost impenetrable thicket of trees, canes, and reedy vegetation, as in India, Africa, Australia, and Brazil. [Hind. jangal desert, forest, jungle; Skr. ja desert.]
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- furtive a.
- Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look. Prior. [L. furtivus, fr. furtum theft, fr. fur thief, akin to ferre to bear: cf. F. furtif. See Fertile.]
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- askance adv.
- Sideways; obliquely; with a side glance; with disdain, envy, or suspicion. [Cf. D. schuin, schuins, sideways, schuiven to shove, schuinte slope. Cf. Asquint.]
- jarring a.
- Shaking; disturbing; discordant. [See Jar.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- redly adv.
- In a red manner; with redness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Story by Lalla-ji, the Priest 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, Story by Lalla-ji, the Priest, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/story-by-lalla-ji-the-priest.html, id L22581.
Form and metre
Story by Lalla-ji, the Priest is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 delightA · seeB · nightA · treeB
- 2 ABAB greenA · stemB · keenA · themB
- 3 ABAB nightA · heB · sightA · treeB
- 4 ABAB priestA · shadeB · feastA · laidB
- 5 ABAB flowersA · treeB · oursA · seeB
- 6 ABAB eastA · agoB · priestA · knowB
- 7 ABAB sayA · rootsB · wayA · fruitsB
- 8 ABAB glanceA · shadeB · askanceA · afraidB
- 9 ABAB threeA · soundB · treeA · groundB
- 10 ABAB rainA · gayB · againA · playB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| He loved the Plant with a keen delight, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| A passionate fervour, strange to see, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Tended it ardently, day and night, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| Yet never a flower lit up the tree. | 8 | ·/·/···· |
| The leaves were succulent, thick, and green, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, sessile, out of the snakelike stem | 9 | ·/˘···/·· |
| Rose spine-like fingers, alert and keen, | 9 | ···/˘˘/·· |
| To catch at aught that molested them. | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| But though they nurtured it day and night, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| With love and labour, the child and he | 9 | ···/····· |
| Were never granted the longed-for sight | 8 | ·//˘···· |
| Of a flower crowning the twisted tree. | 9 | ··//˘·/˘· |
| Until one evening a wayworn Priest | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Stopped for the night in the Temple shade | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And shared the fare of their simple feast | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Under the vines and the jasmin laid. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| He, later, wandering round the flowers | 8 | ·/˘/˘··/ |
| Paused awhile by the blossomless tree. | 9 | ·˘/··/˘˘· |
| The man said, "May it be fault of ours, | 9 | ········/ |
| That never its buds my eyes may see? | 8 | ·/······ |
| "Aslip it came from the further East | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Many a sunlit summer ago." | 8 | /·/·/˘˘/ |
| "It grows in our Jungles," said the Priest, | 9 | ···//˘··· |
| "Men see it rarely; but this I know, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| "The Jungle people worship it; say | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘·· |
| They bury a child around its roots-- | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Bury it living:--the only way | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| To crimson glory of flowers and fruits." | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/·· |
| He spoke in whispers; his furtive glance | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Probing the depths of the garden shade. | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| The man came closer, with eyes askance, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| The child beside them shivered, afraid. | 9 | ··˘/·/˘˘/ |
| A cold wind drifted about the three, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Jarring the spines with a hungry sound, | 9 | /˘····/˘· |
| The spines that grew on the snakelike tree | 9 | ······/·· |
| And guarded its roots beneath the ground. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| After the fall of the summer rain | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The plant was glorious, redly gay, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Blood-red with blossom. Never again | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| Men saw the child in the Temple play. | 9 | ······/˘· |
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.