The Song of Crede, Daughter of Guare
These are the arrows that murder sleepAt every hour in the night's black deep;Pangs of Love through the long day ache,All for the dead Dinertach's sake.
Great love of a hero from Roiny's plainHas pierced me through with immortal pain,Blasted my beauty and left me to blanchA riven bloom on a restless branch.
Never was song like Dinertach's speechBut holy strains that to Heaven's gate reach;A front of flame without boast or pride,Yet a firm, fond mate for a fair maid's side.
A growing girl--I was timid of tongue,And never trysted with gallants young,But since I have won into passionate age,Fierce love-longings my heart engage.
I have every bounty that life could hold,With Guare, arch-monarch of Aidne cold,But, fallen away from my haughty folk,In Irluachair's field my heart lies broke.
There is chanting in glorious Aidne's meadow,Under St. Colman's Church's shadow;A hero flame sinks into the tomb--Dinertach, alas my love and my doom!
Chaste Christ! that now at my life's last breathI should tryst with Sorrow and mate with Death!At every hour of the night's black deep,These are the arrows that murder sleep.
Words in this poem
- ache n.
- A name given to several species of plants; as, smallage, wild celery, parsley. Holland. [F. ache, L. apium parsley.]
- blasted a.
- Blighted; withered.
- bounty n.
- Goodness, kindness; virtue; worth. [OE. bounte goodness, kindness, F. bonté, fr. L. bonitas, fr. bonus good, for older duonus; cf. Skr. duvas honor, respect.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- folk n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- 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.]
- tryst v. i.
- To mutually agree to meet at a certain place.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Song of Crede, Daughter of Guare is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poem-Book of the Gael Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry into English Prose and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #46917; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Eleanor Hull, The Song of Crede, Daughter of Guare, in The Poem-Book of the Gael (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #46917, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hull-gael/the-song-of-crede-daughter-of-guare.html, id L11694.
Form and metre
The Song of Crede, Daughter of Guare is 28 lines in 7 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%). 85% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.1 syllables. 18% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 AABB sleepA · deepA · acheB · sakeB
- 2 AABB plainA · painA · blanchB · branchB
- 3 AABB speechA · reachA · prideB · sideB
- 4 AABB tongueA · youngA · ageB · engageB
- 5 AABB holdA · coldA · folkB · brokeB
- 6 AABB meadowA · shadowA · tombB · doomB
- 7 AABB breathA · deathA · deepB · sleepB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| These are the arrows that murder sleep | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| At every hour in the night's black deep; | 9 | ·/˘/····· |
| Pangs of Love through the long day ache, | 8 | ········ |
| All for the dead Dinertach's sake. | 8 | ········ |
| Great love of a hero from Roiny's plain | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Has pierced me through with immortal pain, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Blasted my beauty and left me to blanch | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| A riven bloom on a restless branch. | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Never was song like Dinertach's speech | 8 | /······· |
| But holy strains that to Heaven's gate reach; | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| A front of flame without boast or pride, | 9 | ········· |
| Yet a firm, fond mate for a fair maid's side. | 10 | ·········· |
| A growing girl--I was timid of tongue, | 9 | ·/···/˘·· |
| And never trysted with gallants young, | 8 | ·//˘·/˘· |
| But since I have won into passionate age, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Fierce love-longings my heart engage. | 8 | ··/˘··˘/ |
| I have every bounty that life could hold, | 10 | ··/˘/˘···· |
| With Guare, arch-monarch of Aidne cold, | 8 | ···/···· |
| But, fallen away from my haughty folk, | 10 | ·/˘˘/··/˘· |
| In Irluachair's field my heart lies broke. | 9 | ········· |
| There is chanting in glorious Aidne's meadow, | 10 | ··/˘·/˘·/· |
| Under St. Colman's Church's shadow; | 9 | ···/˘/˘/· |
| A hero flame sinks into the tomb-- | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Dinertach, alas my love and my doom! | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Chaste Christ! that now at my life's last breath | 9 | ········· |
| I should tryst with Sorrow and mate with Death! | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| At every hour of the night's black deep, | 9 | ·/˘/····· |
| These are the arrows that murder sleep. | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
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