Story of Lilavanti
They lay the slender body downWith all its wealth of wetted hair,Only a daughter of the town,But very young and slight and fair.
The eyes, whose light one cannot see,Are sombre doubtless, like the tresses,The mouth's soft curvings seem to beA roseate series of caresses.
And where the skin has all but dried(The air is sultry in the room)Upon her breast and either side,It shows a soft and amber bloom.
By women here, who knew her life,A leper husband, I am told,Took all this loveliness to wifeWhen it was barely ten years old.
And when the child in shocked dismayFled from the hated husband's careHe caught and tied her, so they say,Down to his bedside by her hair.
To some low quarter of the town,Escaped a second time, she flew;Her beauty brought her great renownAnd many lovers here she knew,
When, as the mystic Eastern nightWith purple shadow filled the air,Behind her window framed in light,She sat with jasmin in her hair.
At last she loved a youth, who choseTo keep this wild flower for his own,He in his garden set his roseWhere it might bloom for him alone.
Cholera came; her lover died,Want drove her to the streets again,And women found her there, who triedTo turn her beauty into gain.
But she who in those garden waysHad learnt of Love, would now no moreBe bartered in the market placeFor silver, as in days before.
That former life she strove to change;She sold the silver off her arms,While all the world grew cold and strangeTo broken health and fading charms.
Till, finding lovers, but no friend,Nor any place to rest or hide,She grew despairing at the end,Slipped softly down a well and died.
And yet, how short, when all is said,This little life of love and tears!Her age, they say, beside her bed,To-day is only fifteen years.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- doubtless a.
- Free from fear or suspicion.
- roseate a.
- Full of roses; rosy; as, roseate bowers. [Cf. L. roseus, rosatus, prepared from roses. See Roseal, Rose.]
- leper n.
- A person affected with leprosy.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- bedside n.
- The side of a bed.
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- despairing a.
- Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Story of Lilavanti 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 of Lilavanti, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/story-of-lilavanti.html, id L22603.
Form and metre
Story of Lilavanti is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 12 of its 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 downA · hairB · townA · fairB
- 2 ABAB seeA · tressesB · beA · caressesB
- 3 ABAB driedA · roomB · sideA · bloomB
- 4 ABAB lifeA · toldB · wifeA · oldB
- 5 ABAB dismayA · careB · sayA · hairB
- 6 ABAB townA · flewB · renownA · knewB
- 7 ABAB nightA · airB · lightA · hairB
- 8 ABAB choseA · ownB · roseA · aloneB
- 9 ABAB diedA · againB · triedA · gainB
- 10 -A-A ways · moreA · place · beforeA
- 11 ABAB changeA · armsB · strangeA · charmsB
- 12 ABAB friendA · hideB · endA · diedB
- 13 ABAB saidA · tearsB · bedA · yearsB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They lay the slender body down | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With all its wealth of wetted hair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Only a daughter of the town, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| But very young and slight and fair. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The eyes, whose light one cannot see, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are sombre doubtless, like the tresses, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| The mouth's soft curvings seem to be | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A roseate series of caresses. | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And where the skin has all but dried | 8 | ········ |
| (The air is sultry in the room) | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon her breast and either side, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| It shows a soft and amber bloom. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| By women here, who knew her life, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A leper husband, I am told, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Took all this loveliness to wife | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| When it was barely ten years old. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And when the child in shocked dismay | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Fled from the hated husband's care | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| He caught and tied her, so they say, | 8 | ········ |
| Down to his bedside by her hair. | 8 | ···/···· |
| To some low quarter of the town, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Escaped a second time, she flew; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Her beauty brought her great renown | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And many lovers here she knew, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| When, as the mystic Eastern night | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With purple shadow filled the air, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Behind her window framed in light, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She sat with jasmin in her hair. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| At last she loved a youth, who chose | 8 | ········ |
| To keep this wild flower for his own, | 8 | ····/··· |
| He in his garden set his rose | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where it might bloom for him alone. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Cholera came; her lover died, | 8 | /˘˘··/˘· |
| Want drove her to the streets again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And women found her there, who tried | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To turn her beauty into gain. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But she who in those garden ways | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Had learnt of Love, would now no more | 8 | ········ |
| Be bartered in the market place | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For silver, as in days before. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That former life she strove to change; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| She sold the silver off her arms, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While all the world grew cold and strange | 8 | ········ |
| To broken health and fading charms. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Till, finding lovers, but no friend, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Nor any place to rest or hide, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| She grew despairing at the end, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Slipped softly down a well and died. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And yet, how short, when all is said, | 8 | ········ |
| This little life of love and tears! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her age, they say, beside her bed, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To-day is only fifteen years. | 8 | ···/˘//· |
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