Gudrun
On King Olaf's bridal nightShines the moon with tender light,And across the chamber streamsIts tide of dreams.
At the fatal midnight hour,When all evil things have power,In the glimmer of the moonStands Gudrun.
Close against her heaving breastSomething in her hand is pressedLike an icicle, its sheenIs cold and keen.
On the cairn are fixed her eyesWhere her murdered father lies,And a voice remote and drearShe seems to hear.
What a bridal night is this!Cold will be the dagger's kiss;Laden with the chill of deathIs its breath.
Like the drifting snow she sweepsTo the couch where Olaf sleeps;Suddenly he wakes and stirs,His eyes meet hers.
"What is that," King Olaf said,"Gleams so bright above thy head?Wherefore standest thou so whiteIn pale moonlight?"
"'T is the bodkin that I wearWhen at night I bind my hair;It woke me falling on the floor;'T is nothing more."
"Forests have ears, and fields have eyes;Often treachery lurking liesUnderneath the fairest hair!Gudrun beware!"
Ere the earliest peep of mornBlew King Olaf's bugle-horn;And forever sundered rideBridegroom and bride!
Words in this poem
- icicle n.
- A pendent, and usually conical, mass of ice, formed by freezing of dripping water; as, the icicles on the eaves of a house. [OE. isikel, AS. isgicel; is ice + gicel icicle; akin to Icel. jökull; cf. Gael. eigh ice, Ir. aigh.]
- sheen v. i.
- To shine; to glisten.
- cairn n.
- A rounded or conical heap of stones erected by early inhabitants of the British Isles, apparently as a sepulchral monument. [Gael. carn, gen. cairn, a heap: cf. Ir. & W. carn.]
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gudrun is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Gudrun, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/gudrun.html, id L17660.
Form and metre
Gudrun is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 9 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 AABB nightA · lightA · streamsB · dreamsB
- 2 AA-- hourA · powerA · moon · gudrun
- 3 AABB breastA · pressedA · sheenB · keenB
- 4 AABB eyesA · liesA · drearB · hearB
- 5 AABB thisA · kissA · deathB · breathB
- 6 AABB sweepsA · sleepsA · stirsB · hersB
- 7 AABB saidA · headA · whiteB · moonlightB
- 8 AABB wearA · hairA · floorB · moreB
- 9 AABB eyesA · liesA · hairB · bewareB
- 10 AABB mornA · hornA · rideB · brideB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On King Olaf's bridal night | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Shines the moon with tender light, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And across the chamber streams | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Its tide of dreams. | 4 | ···· |
| At the fatal midnight hour, | 8 | ··/˘/·/˘ |
| When all evil things have power, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| In the glimmer of the moon | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Stands Gudrun. | 3 | ··· |
| Close against her heaving breast | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Something in her hand is pressed | 8 | /˘·····˘ |
| Like an icicle, its sheen | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Is cold and keen. | 4 | ···· |
| On the cairn are fixed her eyes | 8 | ·····˘·· |
| Where her murdered father lies, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| And a voice remote and drear | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| She seems to hear. | 4 | ···· |
| What a bridal night is this! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Cold will be the dagger's kiss; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Laden with the chill of death | 7 | /˘····· |
| Is its breath. | 3 | ··· |
| Like the drifting snow she sweeps | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| To the couch where Olaf sleeps; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Suddenly he wakes and stirs, | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| His eyes meet hers. | 4 | ···· |
| "What is that," King Olaf said, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| "Gleams so bright above thy head? | 7 | ······· |
| Wherefore standest thou so white | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| In pale moonlight?" | 4 | ··/· |
| "'T is the bodkin that I wear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When at night I bind my hair; | 7 | ······· |
| It woke me falling on the floor; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'T is nothing more." | 5 | ··/˘· |
| "Forests have ears, and fields have eyes; | 8 | /˘······ |
| Often treachery lurking lies | 8 | /˘/˘˘/˘· |
| Underneath the fairest hair! | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Gudrun beware!" | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Ere the earliest peep of morn | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Blew King Olaf's bugle-horn; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| And forever sundered ride | 8 | ·˘/˘/˘˘· |
| Bridegroom and bride! | 4 | /··· |
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.