The Princes
Gauntleted and jewel-girdled, now the warlike princes came,With their stately bows and quivers and their swords like wreaths of flame,
Each behind his elder stepping, good Yudhishthir first of all,Each his wondrous skill displaying held the silent crowds in thrall.
And the men in admiration marked them with a joyful eye,Or by sudden panic stricken stooped to let the arrow fly!
Mounted on their rapid coursers oft the princes proved their aim,Racing, hit the targe with arrows lettered with their royal name,
With their glinting sunlit weapons shone the youths sublime and high,More than mortals seemed the princes, like gandharvas of the sky!
Shouts of joy the people uttered as by sudden impulse driven,Mingled voice of tens of thousands struck the pealing vault of heaven!
Still the princes shook their weapons, drove the deep resounding car,Or on steed or tusker mounted waged the glorious mimic war!
Mighty sword and ample buckler, ponderous mace the princes wield,Brightly gleam their lightning rapiers as they range the listed field,
Brave and fearless is their action, and their movement quick and light,Skilled and true the thrust and parry of their weapons flaming bright!
Words in this poem
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- admiration n.
- Wonder; astonishment. [F., fr. L. admiratio. See Admire.]
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- targe n.
- A shield or target. [F. Cf. Target.]
- lettered a.
- Literate; educated; versed in literature.
- sunlit a.
- Lighted by the sun.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- tusker n.
- An elephant having large tusks.
- 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.]
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Princes is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt 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: Vyasa, The Princes, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/the-princes.html, id L15755.
Form and metre
The Princes is 18 lines in 9 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 78% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.
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 cameA · flameA
- 2 AA allA · thrallA
- 3 AA eyeA · flyA
- 4 AA aimA · nameA
- 5 AA highA · skyA
- 8 AA wieldA · fieldA
- 9 AA lightA · brightA
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 octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Gauntleted and jewel-girdled, now the warlike princes came, | 15 | /˘˘·/˘/˘··/·/˘· |
| With their stately bows and quivers and their swords like wreaths of flame, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| Each behind his elder stepping, good Yudhishthir first of all, | 15 | ····/˘/˘······· |
| Each his wondrous skill displaying held the silent crowds in thrall. | 15 | ··/˘·˘/˘··/˘··· |
| And the men in admiration marked them with a joyful eye, | 15 | ·····˘/˘····/˘· |
| Or by sudden panic stricken stooped to let the arrow fly! | 15 | ··/˘/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Mounted on their rapid coursers oft the princes proved their aim, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Racing, hit the targe with arrows lettered with their royal name, | 15 | /˘····/˘/˘··/˘· |
| With their glinting sunlit weapons shone the youths sublime and high, | 15 | ··/˘/·/˘···˘/·· |
| More than mortals seemed the princes, like gandharvas of the sky! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| Shouts of joy the people uttered as by sudden impulse driven, | 16 | ····/˘/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Mingled voice of tens of thousands struck the pealing vault of heaven! | 16 | /˘····/˘··/˘··/˘ |
| Still the princes shook their weapons, drove the deep resounding car, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘···˘/˘· |
| Or on steed or tusker mounted waged the glorious mimic war! | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Mighty sword and ample buckler, ponderous mace the princes wield, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Brightly gleam their lightning rapiers as they range the listed field, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Brave and fearless is their action, and their movement quick and light, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| Skilled and true the thrust and parry of their weapons flaming bright! | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
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