King Olaf and Earl Sigvald
On the gray sea-sandsKing Olaf stands,Northward and seawardHe points with his hands.
With eddy and whirlThe sea-tides curl,Washing the sandalsOf Sigvald the Earl.
The mariners shout,The ships swing about,The yards are all hoisted,The sails flutter out.
The war-horns are played,The anchors are weighed,Like moths in the distanceThe sails flit and fade.
The sea is like leadThe harbor lies dead,As a corse on the sea-shore,Whose spirit has fled!
On that fatal day,The histories say,Seventy vesselsSailed out of the bay.
But soon scattered wideO'er the billows they ride,While Sigvald and OlafSail side by side.
Cried the Earl: "Follow me!I your pilot will be,For I know all the channelsWhere flows the deep sea!"
So into the straitWhere his foes lie in wait,Gallant King OlafSails to his fate!
Then the sea-fog veilsThe ships and their sails;Queen Sigrid the Haughty,Thy vengeance prevails!
Words in this poem
- northward a.
- Toward the north; nearer to the north than to the east or west point. [AS. noredhweard.]
- seaward a.
- Directed or situated toward the sea. Donne.
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- corse n.
- A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
King Olaf and Earl Sigvald 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, King Olaf and Earl Sigvald, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/king-olaf-and-earl-sigvald.html, id L17670.
Form and metre
King Olaf and Earl Sigvald is 40 lines in 10 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.2 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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 AA-A sandsA · standsA · seaward · handsA
- 2 AA-A whirlA · curlA · sandals · earlA
- 3 AA-A shoutA · aboutA · hoisted · outA
- 4 AA-A playedA · weighedA · distance · fadeA
- 5 AA-A leadA · deadA · shore · fledA
- 6 AA-A dayA · sayA · vessels · bayA
- 7 AA-A wideA · rideA · olaf · sideA
- 8 AA-A meA · beA · channels · seaA
- 9 AA-A straitA · waitA · olaf · fateA
- 10 AA-A veilsA · sailsA · haughty · prevailsA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| On the gray sea-sands | 5 | ····· |
| King Olaf stands, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Northward and seaward | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| He points with his hands. | 5 | ····· |
| With eddy and whirl | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| The sea-tides curl, | 4 | ···· |
| Washing the sandals | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Of Sigvald the Earl. | 5 | ····· |
| The mariners shout, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| The ships swing about, | 5 | ····· |
| The yards are all hoisted, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The sails flutter out. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| The war-horns are played, | 5 | ····· |
| The anchors are weighed, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Like moths in the distance | 6 | ····/˘ |
| The sails flit and fade. | 5 | ····· |
| The sea is like lead | 5 | ····· |
| The harbor lies dead, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| As a corse on the sea-shore, | 7 | ······· |
| Whose spirit has fled! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| On that fatal day, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| The histories say, | 5 | ·/˘˘· |
| Seventy vessels | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| Sailed out of the bay. | 5 | ····· |
| But soon scattered wide | 5 | ··/˘· |
| O'er the billows they ride, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| While Sigvald and Olaf | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Sail side by side. | 4 | ···· |
| Cried the Earl: "Follow me! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I your pilot will be, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| For I know all the channels | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Where flows the deep sea!" | 5 | ····· |
| So into the strait | 5 | ····· |
| Where his foes lie in wait, | 6 | ······ |
| Gallant King Olaf | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Sails to his fate! | 4 | ···· |
| Then the sea-fog veils | 5 | ····· |
| The ships and their sails; | 5 | ····· |
| Queen Sigrid the Haughty, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| Thy vengeance prevails! | 5 | ·/˘˘/ |
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