Warrior's Guerdon
Now with joy the king Virata to his royal city came,Saw the rescued herds of cattle, saw Uttara prince of fame,
Marked the great and gallant Arjun, helmet-wearing, armour-cased,Knew Yudhishthir and his brothers now as royal princes dressed,
And he greeted good Yudhishthir, truth-beloving brave and strong,And to valiant Arjun offered Matsya's princess fair and young!
"Pardon, monarch," answered Arjun, "but I may not take as bride,Matsya's young and beauteous princess whom I love with father's pride,
She hath often met me trusting in the inner palace hall,As a daughter on a father waited on my loving call!
I have trained her kokil accents, taught her maiden steps in dance,Watched her skill and varied graces all her native charms enhance!
Pure is she in thought and action, spotless as my hero boy,Grant her to my son, O monarch, as his wedded wife and joy!
Abhimanyu trained in battle, handsome youth of godlike face,Krishna's sister, fair Subhadra, bore the child of princely grace!
Worthy of thy youthful daughter, pure in heart and undefiled,Grant it, sire, my Abhimanyu wed thy young and beauteous child!"
Answered Matsya's noble monarch with a glad and grateful heart:"Words like these befit thy virtue, nobly hast thou done thy part!
Be it as thou sayest, Arjun; unto Pandu's race allied,Matsya's royal line is honoured, Matsya's king is gratified!"
Words in this poem
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- enhance v. t.
- To raise or lift up; to exalt. Wyclif. [Norm. F. enhauncer, enhaucer, OF. enhaleier, enhaucier; pref. en- (L. in) + haucier to lift, raise up, from an assumed L. altiare, fr. L. altus high; cf. Pr. en]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- gratified a.
- Pleased; indulged according to desire.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Warrior's Guerdon 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, Warrior's Guerdon, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/warrior-s-guerdon.html, id L15794.
Form and metre
Warrior's Guerdon is 22 lines in 11 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 82% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.1 syllables.
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 · fameA
- 4 AA brideA · prideA
- 5 AA hallA · callA
- 6 AA danceA · enhanceA
- 7 AA boyA · joyA
- 8 AA faceA · graceA
- 9 AA undefiledA · childA
- 10 AA heartA · partA
- 11 AA alliedA · gratifiedA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Now with joy the king Virata to his royal city came, | 15 | ··········/˘/˘· |
| Saw the rescued herds of cattle, saw Uttara prince of fame, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘······· |
| Marked the great and gallant Arjun, helmet-wearing, armour-cased, | 15 | ····/˘··/˘/˘/˘· |
| Knew Yudhishthir and his brothers now as royal princes dressed, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And he greeted good Yudhishthir, truth-beloving brave and strong, | 15 | ··/˘·····/˘˘··· |
| And to valiant Arjun offered Matsya's princess fair and young! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘··· |
| "Pardon, monarch," answered Arjun, "but I may not take as bride, | 15 | /˘/·/˘········· |
| Matsya's young and beauteous princess whom I love with father's pride, | 16 | ····/˘˘/˘····/˘· |
| She hath often met me trusting in the inner palace hall, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘··/˘/˘· |
| As a daughter on a father waited on my loving call! | 15 | ··/˘··/˘/˘··/˘· |
| I have trained her kokil accents, taught her maiden steps in dance, | 15 | ······/˘··/˘··· |
| Watched her skill and varied graces all her native charms enhance! | 15 | ····/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Pure is she in thought and action, spotless as my hero boy, | 15 | ······/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Grant her to my son, O monarch, as his wedded wife and joy! | 15 | ······/···/˘··· |
| Abhimanyu trained in battle, handsome youth of godlike face, | 15 | ······/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Krishna's sister, fair Subhadra, bore the child of princely grace! | 15 | /˘/˘········/˘· |
| Worthy of thy youthful daughter, pure in heart and undefiled, | 15 | /˘··/˘/˘······· |
| Grant it, sire, my Abhimanyu wed thy young and beauteous child!" | 16 | ··/·········/˘˘· |
| Answered Matsya's noble monarch with a glad and grateful heart: | 15 | /˘··/˘/·····/˘· |
| "Words like these befit thy virtue, nobly hast thou done thy part! | 15 | ···˘/·/˘/˘····· |
| Be it as thou sayest, Arjun; unto Pandu's race allied, | 14 | ············˘/ |
| Matsya's royal line is honoured, Matsya's king is gratified!" | 15 | ··/˘··/˘····/˘· |
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.