The First Lover
As o'er the vessel's side she leant,She saw the swimmer in the seaWith eager eyes on her intent,"Come down, come down and swim with me."
So weary was she of her lot,Tired of the ship's monotony,She straightway all the world forgotSave the young swimmer in the sea
So when the dusky, dying lightLeft all the water dark and dim,She softly, in the friendly night,Slipped down the vessel's side to him.
Intent and brilliant, brightly dark,She saw his burning, eager eyes,And many a phosphorescent sparkAbout his shoulders fall and rise.
As through the hushed and Eastern nightThey swam together, hand in hand,Or lay and laughed in sheer delightFull length upon the level sand.
"Ah, soft, delusive, purple nightWhose darkness knew no vexing moon!Ah, cruel, needless, dawning lightThat trembled in the sky too soon!"
Words in this poem
- monotony n.
- A frequent recurrence of the same tone or sound, producing a dull uniformity; absence of variety, as in speaking or singing. [Gr. monotonie. See Monotonius.]
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- needless a.
- Having no need.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The First 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, The First Lover, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/the-first-lover.html, id L22596.
Form and metre
The First Lover 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 95%).
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 leantA · seaB · intentA · meB
- 2 A-A- lotA · monotony · forgotA · sea
- 3 ABAB lightA · dimB · nightA · himB
- 4 ABAB darkA · eyesB · sparkA · riseB
- 5 ABAB nightA · handB · delightA · sandB
- 6 ABAB nightA · moonB · lightA · soonB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| As o'er the vessel's side she leant, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| She saw the swimmer in the sea | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With eager eyes on her intent, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| "Come down, come down and swim with me." | 8 | ········ |
| So weary was she of her lot, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Tired of the ship's monotony, | 9 | /˘···˘/˘˘ |
| She straightway all the world forgot | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Save the young swimmer in the sea | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So when the dusky, dying light | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Left all the water dark and dim, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She softly, in the friendly night, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Slipped down the vessel's side to him. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Intent and brilliant, brightly dark, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| She saw his burning, eager eyes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And many a phosphorescent spark | 8 | ·/······ |
| About his shoulders fall and rise. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As through the hushed and Eastern night | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| They swam together, hand in hand, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Or lay and laughed in sheer delight | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Full length upon the level sand. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "Ah, soft, delusive, purple night | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Whose darkness knew no vexing moon! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Ah, cruel, needless, dawning light | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| That trembled in the sky too soon!" | 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.