Noormahal the Fair
Between two ebon rocksBehold yon sombre den,Where brambles bristle like the locksOf wool between the horns of scapegoat banned by men!
Remote in ruddy fogStill hear the tiger growlAt the lion and stripèd dogThat prowl with rusty throats to taunt and roar and howl;
Whilst other monsters fastThe hissing basilisk;The hippopotamus so vast,And the boa with waking appetite made brisk!
The orfrey showing tongue,The fly in stinging mood,The elephant that crushes strongAnd elastic bamboos an the scorpion's brood;
And the men of the treesWith their families fierce,Till there is not one scorching breezeBut brings here its venom--its horror to pierce--
Yet, rather there be lone,'Mid all those horrors there,Than hear the sickly honeyed toneAnd see the swimming eyes of Noormahal the Fair!
Words in this poem
- ebon a.
- Consisting of ebony.
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- scapegoat n.
- A goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people, after which he was suffered to escape into the wilderness. [Scape (for escape) + goat.]
- prowl v. t.
- To rove over, through, or about in a stealthy manner; esp., to search in, as for prey or booty. [OE. prollen to search about; of uncertain origin, perh. for proglen, a dim. of prog to beg, or proke to poke. Cf. Proke.]
- basilisk n.
- A fabulous serpent, or dragon. The ancients alleged that its hissing would drive away all other serpents, and that its breath, and even its look, was fatal. See Cockatrice. [L. basiliscus, Gr. little king, kind of serpent, dim. of king; -- so named from some prominences on the head resembling a crown.]
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- honeyed a.
- Covered with honey.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Noormahal the Fair is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Victor Hugo, Noormahal the Fair, in Poems (1888), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8775, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hugo-poems/noormahal-the-fair.html, id L26728.
Form and metre
Noormahal the Fair is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 rocksA · denB · locksA · menB
- 2 ABAB fogA · growlB · dogA · howlB
- 3 ABAB fastA · basiliskB · vastA · briskB
- 4 ABAB tongueA · moodB · strongA · broodB
- 5 ABAB treesA · fierceB · breezeA · pierceB
- 6 ABAB loneA · thereB · toneA · fairB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Between two ebon rocks | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Behold yon sombre den, | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Where brambles bristle like the locks | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of wool between the horns of scapegoat banned by men! | 12 | ·······/···· |
| Remote in ruddy fog | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| Still hear the tiger growl | 6 | ···/˘· |
| At the lion and stripèd dog | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| That prowl with rusty throats to taunt and roar and howl; | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| Whilst other monsters fast | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The hissing basilisk; | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| The hippopotamus so vast, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| And the boa with waking appetite made brisk! | 12 | ··/˘·/˘/˘··· |
| The orfrey showing tongue, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The fly in stinging mood, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The elephant that crushes strong | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| And elastic bamboos an the scorpion's brood; | 11 | ·˘/˘˘/··/˘· |
| And the men of the trees | 6 | ······ |
| With their families fierce, | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| Till there is not one scorching breeze | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But brings here its venom--its horror to pierce-- | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Yet, rather there be lone, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'Mid all those horrors there, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Than hear the sickly honeyed tone | 9 | ···/˘/˘˘· |
| And see the swimming eyes of Noormahal the Fair! | 12 | ···/˘······· |
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.