Tegnér's Drapa
I heard a voice, that cried,"Balder the BeautifulIs dead, is dead!"And through the misty airPassed like the mournful cryOf sunward sailing cranes.
I saw the pallid corpseOf the dead sunBorne through the Northern sky.Blasts from NiffelheimLifted the sheeted mistsAround him as he passed.
And the voice forever cried,"Balder the BeautifulIs dead, is dead!"And died awayThrough the dreary night,In accents of despair.
Balder the Beautiful,God of the summer sun,Fairest of all the Gods!Light from his forehead beamed,Runes were upon his tongue,As on the warrior's sword.
All things in earth and airBound were by magic spellNever to do him harm;Even the plants and stones;All save the mistletoe,The sacred mistletoe!
Hoeder, the blind old God,Whose feet are shod with silence,Pierced through that gentle breastWith his sharp spear, by fraudMade of the mistletoe,The accursed mistletoe!
They laid him in his ship,With horse and harness,As on a funeral pyre.Odin placedA ring upon his finger,And whispered in his ear.
They launched the burning ship!It floated far awayOver the misty sea,Till like the sun it seemed,Sinking beneath the waves.Balder returned no more!
So perish the old Gods!But out of the sea of TimeRises a new land of song,Fairer than the old.Over its meadows greenWalk the young bards and sing.
Build it again,O ye bards,Fairer than before!Ye fathers of the new race,Feed upon morning dew,Sing the new Song of Love!
The law of force is dead!The law of love prevails!Thor, the thunderer,Shall rule the earth no more,No more, with threats,Challenge the meek Christ.
Sing no more,O ye bards of the North,Of Vikings and of Jarls!Of the days of EldPreserve the freedom only,Not the deeds of blood!
Words in this poem
- balder n.
- The most beautiful and beloved of the gods; the god of peace; the son of Odin and Freya. [Written also Baldur.] [Icel. Baldr, akin to E. bold.]
- sunward adv.
- Toward the sun.
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- beamed a.
- Furnished with beams, as the head of a stag.
- pyre n.
- A funeral pile; a combustible heap on which the dead are burned; hence, any pile to be burnt. [L. pure, Gr. Fire.]
- thor n.
- The god of thunder, and son of Odin. [Icel. þors. Cf. Thursday.]
- thunderer n.
- One who thunders; -- used especially as a translation of L.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tegnér's Drapa 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, Tegnér's Drapa, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/tegn-r-s-drapa.html, id L17573.
Form and metre
Tegnér's Drapa is 72 lines in 12 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.7 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 5 ----AA air · spell · harm · stones · mistletoeA · mistletoeA
- 6 ----AA god · silence · breast · fraud · mistletoeA · mistletoeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I heard a voice, that cried, | 6 | ······ |
| "Balder the Beautiful | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Is dead, is dead!" | 4 | ···· |
| And through the misty air | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Passed like the mournful cry | 7 | ·˘··/˘· |
| Of sunward sailing cranes. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| I saw the pallid corpse | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Of the dead sun | 4 | ···· |
| Borne through the Northern sky. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Blasts from Niffelheim | 5 | ····· |
| Lifted the sheeted mists | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Around him as he passed. | 7 | ······˘ |
| And the voice forever cried, | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| "Balder the Beautiful | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Is dead, is dead!" | 4 | ···· |
| And died away | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Through the dreary night, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| In accents of despair. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Balder the Beautiful, | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| God of the summer sun, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Fairest of all the Gods! | 6 | /˘···· |
| Light from his forehead beamed, | 7 | ···/˘·˘ |
| Runes were upon his tongue, | 6 | ······ |
| As on the warrior's sword. | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| All things in earth and air | 6 | ······ |
| Bound were by magic spell | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Never to do him harm; | 6 | /˘···· |
| Even the plants and stones; | 6 | /˘···· |
| All save the mistletoe, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The sacred mistletoe! | 7 | ·/˘˘/˘· |
| Hoeder, the blind old God, | 6 | ······ |
| Whose feet are shod with silence, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Pierced through that gentle breast | 7 | ·˘··/˘· |
| With his sharp spear, by fraud | 6 | ······ |
| Made of the mistletoe, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The accursed mistletoe! | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| They laid him in his ship, | 6 | ······ |
| With horse and harness, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| As on a funeral pyre. | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Odin placed | 3 | /˘· |
| A ring upon his finger, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And whispered in his ear. | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| They launched the burning ship! | 7 | ··˘·/˘· |
| It floated far away | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Over the misty sea, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Till like the sun it seemed, | 7 | ······˘ |
| Sinking beneath the waves. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Balder returned no more! | 7 | /˘˘/˘·· |
| So perish the old Gods! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But out of the sea of Time | 7 | ······· |
| Rises a new land of song, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Fairer than the old. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Over its meadows green | 6 | ···/·· |
| Walk the young bards and sing. | 6 | ······ |
| Build it again, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| O ye bards, | 3 | ··· |
| Fairer than before! | 5 | /˘··· |
| Ye fathers of the new race, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Feed upon morning dew, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sing the new Song of Love! | 6 | ······ |
| The law of force is dead! | 6 | ······ |
| The law of love prevails! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Thor, the thunderer, | 5 | ··/˘˘ |
| Shall rule the earth no more, | 6 | ······ |
| No more, with threats, | 4 | ···· |
| Challenge the meek Christ. | 5 | /˘··· |
| Sing no more, | 3 | ··· |
| O ye bards of the North, | 6 | ······ |
| Of Vikings and of Jarls! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of the days of Eld | 5 | ····· |
| Preserve the freedom only, | 7 | ˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Not the deeds of blood! | 5 | ····· |
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.