Baydary
Give wings unto the storm, and spurs to steed,I'd move unchained as wind across the world,Sweep onward like a torrent mountain-hurled,Nor sea, nor height, nor valley pause to heed.The twilight spreads a dimness o'er our speed,And shows the diamond-stars from hoofs up-whirled,Since daylight now her curtained blue has juried,And mystery and magic shadows breed.
The earth sleeps, but not I--not I--not I--Who hasten to the shore where waves are loudAnd toward me in the darkness whitely crowd.Beneath them I would still my soul's deep cry--Like ships the whirlpools seize to drag to death--I'd plunge within the silence, sans thought, breath.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- whitely a.
- Like, or coming near to, white.
- sans prep.
- Without; deprived or destitute of. Rarely used as an English word. [F., from L. sine without.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Baydary is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets from the Crimea, Project Gutenberg ebook #27069, the Edna Worthley Underwood 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: Adam Mickiewicz, Baydary, in Sonnets from the Crimea (1917), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #27069, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mickiewicz-crimea/baydary.html, id L15535.
Form and metre
Baydary is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAAB-A steedA · worldB · hurledB · heedA · speedA · whirledB · juried · breedA
- 2 ABBACC iA · loudB · crowdB · cryA · deathC · breathC
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Give wings unto the storm, and spurs to steed, | 10 | ·········· |
| I'd move unchained as wind across the world, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Sweep onward like a torrent mountain-hurled, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Nor sea, nor height, nor valley pause to heed. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The twilight spreads a dimness o'er our speed, | 10 | ·/···/˘·/· |
| And shows the diamond-stars from hoofs up-whirled, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Since daylight now her curtained blue has juried, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And mystery and magic shadows breed. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘/·· |
| The earth sleeps, but not I--not I--not I-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Who hasten to the shore where waves are loud | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And toward me in the darkness whitely crowd. | 11 | ······/˘/˘· |
| Beneath them I would still my soul's deep cry-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Like ships the whirlpools seize to drag to death-- | 10 | ···/······ |
| I'd plunge within the silence, sans thought, breath. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
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.