In Praise of Henna
A kokila called from a henna-spray:Lira! Liree! Lira! Liree!Hasten, maidens, hasten awayTo gather the leaves of the henna-tree.Send your pitchers afloat on the tide,Gather the leaves ere the dawn be old,Grind them in mortars of amber and gold,The fresh green leaves of the henna-tree.
A kokila called from a henna-spray:Lira! Liree! Lira! Liree!Hasten maidens, hasten awayTo gather the leaves of the henna-tree.The tilka's red for the brow of a bride,And betel-nut's red for lips that are sweet;But, for lily-like fingers and feet,The red, the red of the henna-tree.
Words in this poem
- lira n.
- An Italian coin equivalent in value to the French franc. [It., fr. L. libra the Roman pound. Cf. Livre.]
- afloat adv.
- Borne on the water; floating; on board ship. [Pref. a- + float.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Praise of Henna is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Golden Threshold, with an introduction by Arthur Symons (Hyderabad, 1905; London, John Lane, 1905), Project Gutenberg ebook #680; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sarojini Naidu, In Praise of Henna, in The Golden Threshold (1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #680, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/naidu-golden-threshold/in-praise-of-henna.html, id L27482.
Form and metre
In Praise of Henna is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%).
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 A-AB-CCB sprayA · liree · awayA · treeB · tide · oldC · goldC · treeB
- 2 A-AB-CCB sprayA · liree · awayA · treeB · bride · sweetC · feetC · treeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A kokila called from a henna-spray: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lira! Liree! Lira! Liree! | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Hasten, maidens, hasten away | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| To gather the leaves of the henna-tree. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Send your pitchers afloat on the tide, | 9 | ··/˘˘/··· |
| Gather the leaves ere the dawn be old, | 9 | /˘······· |
| Grind them in mortars of amber and gold, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| The fresh green leaves of the henna-tree. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| A kokila called from a henna-spray: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Lira! Liree! Lira! Liree! | 8 | /˘··/˘·· |
| Hasten maidens, hasten away | 8 | /˘/˘/˘˘/ |
| To gather the leaves of the henna-tree. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The tilka's red for the brow of a bride, | 10 | ·········· |
| And betel-nut's red for lips that are sweet; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| But, for lily-like fingers and feet, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| The red, the red of the henna-tree. | 9 | ······/˘· |
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.