Laurel · Alfred Noyes · Collected Poems, Volume One

Orpheus and Eurydice II

Alfred Noyes (1880–1958) · 1913

iambic trimeter · ABAB · 44 lines · from Collected Poems, Volume One

Lost in his new desireHe dreamed away the hours;His lyreLay buried in the flowers:

To whom the King of Heaven,Apollo, lord of light,Had givenBeauty and love and might:

Might, if he would, to slayAll evil dreams and pierceThe greyVeil of the Universe;

With Love that holds in oneSacred and ancient bondThe sunAnd all the vast beyond,

And Beauty to enthrallThe soul of man to heaven:Yea, allThese gifts to him were given.

Yet in his dream's desireHe drowsed away the hours:His lyreLay buried in the flowers.

Then in his wrath aroseApollo, lord of light,That showsThe wrong deed from the right;

And by what radiant lawsO'erruling human needs,The causeTo consequence proceeds;

How balanced is the swayHe gives each mortal doom:How dayDemands the atoning gloom:

How all good things awaitThe soul that pays the priceTo FateBy equal sacrifice;

And how on him that sleepsFor less than labour's sakeThere creepsUncharmed, the Pythian snake.

Words in this poem

enthrall v. t.: To hold in thrall; to enslave. See Inthrall. [Pref. en- + thrall. Cf. Inthrall.]
needs adv.: Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
await v. t.: To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Orpheus and Eurydice II is in the public domain. This text is taken from Collected Poems: Volume One, Project Gutenberg ebook #30501; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Alfred Noyes, Orpheus and Eurydice II, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/orpheus-and-eurydice-ii.html, id L21478.

Form and metre

Orpheus and Eurydice II is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 6 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).

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.

1 -A-A desire · hours^A · lyre · flowers^A
2 -A-A heaven · light^A · given · might^A
3 A-A- slay^A · pierce · grey^A · universe
4 ABAB one^A · bond^B · sun^A · beyond^B
5 A-A- enthrall^A · heaven · all^A · given
6 -A-A desire · hours^A · lyre · flowers^A
7 ABAB arose^A · light^B · shows^A · right^B
8 ABAB laws^A · needs^B · cause^A · proceeds^B
9 ABAB sway^A · doom^B · day^A · gloom^B
10 ABAB await^A · price^B · fate^A · sacrifice^B
11 ABAB sleeps^A · sake^B · creeps^A · snake^B

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
Lost in his new desire	7	····˘/˘
He dreamed away the hours;	7	··˘/·/˘
His lyre	2	··
Lay buried in the flowers:	7	·/˘··/˘
To whom the King of Heaven,	7	·····/˘
Apollo, lord of light,	6	˘/˘···
Had given	3	·/˘
Beauty and love and might:	6	/˘····
Might, if he would, to slay	6	······
All evil dreams and pierce	6	·/˘···
The grey	2	··
Veil of the Universe;	6	···/˘·
With Love that holds in one	6	······
Sacred and ancient bond	6	/˘·/˘·
The sun	2	··
And all the vast beyond,	6	······
And Beauty to enthrall	6	·/˘·˘/
The soul of man to heaven:	7	·····/˘
Yea, all	2	··
These gifts to him were given.	7	·····/˘
Yet in his dream's desire	7	····˘/˘
He drowsed away the hours:	7	··˘/·/˘
His lyre	2	··
Lay buried in the flowers.	7	·/˘··/˘
Then in his wrath arose	6	····˘/
Apollo, lord of light,	6	˘/˘···
That shows	2	··
The wrong deed from the right;	6	······
And by what radiant laws	6	···/˘·
O'erruling human needs,	6	···/˘·
The cause	2	··
To consequence proceeds;	6	·/˘˘˘/
How balanced is the sway	6	·/˘···
He gives each mortal doom:	6	···/˘·
How day	2	··
Demands the atoning gloom:	7	˘/·˘/˘·
How all good things await	6	····˘/
The soul that pays the price	6	······
To Fate	2	··
By equal sacrifice;	6	·/˘/˘·
And how on him that sleeps	6	······
For less than labour's sake	6	···/··
There creeps	2	··
Uncharmed, the Pythian snake.	7	···/˘˘·

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.

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Collected Poems, Volume One