Laurel · Alfred Noyes · Collected Poems, Volume One

Orpheus and Eurydice VI

Alfred Noyes (1880–1958) · 1913

iambic trimeter · ABAB · 56 lines · from Collected Poems, Volume One

O'er Phlegethon he stood:Below him roared and flamedThe floodFor utmost anguish named.

And lo, across the night,The shining form he knewWith lightSwift footsteps upward drew.

Up through the desolate landsShe stole, a ghostly star,With handsOutstretched to him afar.

With arms outstretched, she cameIn yearning majesty,The sameRoyal Eurydice.

Up through the ghastly deadShe came, with shining eyesAnd redSweet lips of child-surprise.

Up through the wizened crowdsShe stole, as steals the moonThrough cloudsOf flowery mist in June.

He gazed: he ceased to smiteThe golden-chorded lyre:DelightConsumed his heart with fire.

Though in that deadly landHis task was but half-done,His handDrooped, and the fight half-won.

He saw the breasts that glowed,The fragrant clouds of hair:They flowedAround him like a snare.

O'er Phlegethon he stood,For utmost anguish named:The floodBelow him roared and flamed.

Out of his hand the lyreSuddenly slipped and fell,The fireAcclaimed it into hell.

The night grew dark again:There came a bitter cryOf pain,Oh Love, once more I die!

And lo, the earth-dawn broke,And like a wraith she fled:He wokeAlone: his love was dead.

He woke on earth: the dayShone coldly: at his sideThere layThe body of his bride.

Words in this poem

phlegethon n.: One of the principal rivers of Hades, in the channel of which fire flowed instead of water.
stole n.: A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
ghostly a.: Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
afar adv.: At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
wizened a.: Dried; shriveled; withered; shrunken; weazen; as, a wizened old man.
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
wraith n.: An apparition of a person in his exact likeness, seen before death, or a little after; hence, an apparition; a specter; a vision; an unreal image. [Scot. wraith, warth; probably originally, a guardian angel, from Icel. vörthr a warden, guardian, akin to E. ward. See Ward a guard.]
coldly adv.: In a cold manner; without warmth, animation, or feeling; with indifference; calmly.

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

About this text

Orpheus and Eurydice VI 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 VI, in Collected Poems, Volume One (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #30501, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/noyes-collected/orpheus-and-eurydice-vi.html, id L21480.

Form and metre

Orpheus and Eurydice VI is 56 lines in 14 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 13 of its 14 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).

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 ABAB stood^A · flamed^B · flood^A · named^B
2 ABAB night^A · knew^B · light^A · drew^B
3 ABAB lands^A · star^B · hands^A · afar^B
4 A-A- came^A · majesty · same^A · eurydice
5 ABAB dead^A · eyes^B · red^A · surprise^B
6 ABAB crowds^A · moon^B · clouds^A · june^B
7 ABAB smite^A · lyre^B · delight^A · fire^B
8 ABAB land^A · done^B · hand^A · won^B
9 ABAB glowed^A · hair^B · flowed^A · snare^B
10 ABAB stood^A · named^B · flood^A · flamed^B
11 ABAB lyre^A · fell^B · fire^A · hell^B
12 ABAB again^A · cry^B · pain^A · die^B
13 ABAB broke^A · fled^B · woke^A · dead^B
14 ABAB day^A · side^B · lay^A · bride^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
O'er Phlegethon he stood:	6	·/˘˘··
Below him roared and flamed	6	······
The flood	2	··
For utmost anguish named.	6	·/·/˘·
And lo, across the night,	6	··˘/··
The shining form he knew	6	·/˘···
With light	2	··
Swift footsteps upward drew.	6	·/·/˘·
Up through the desolate lands	6	···/˘·
She stole, a ghostly star,	6	···/˘·
With hands	2	··
Outstretched to him afar.	6	˘/··˘/
With arms outstretched, she came	6	··˘/··
In yearning majesty,	6	·/˘/˘˘
The same	2	··
Royal Eurydice.	5	/˘···
Up through the ghastly dead	6	···/˘·
She came, with shining eyes	6	···/˘·
And red	2	··
Sweet lips of child-surprise.	6	····˘/
Up through the wizened crowds	6	···/˘·
She stole, as steals the moon	6	······
Through clouds	2	··
Of flowery mist in June.	6	·/˘···
He gazed: he ceased to smite	6	······
The golden-chorded lyre:	6	·/˘/˘·
Delight	2	˘/
Consumed his heart with fire.	7	˘/···/˘
Though in that deadly land	6	···/˘·
His task was but half-done,	6	······
His hand	2	··
Drooped, and the fight half-won.	6	······
He saw the breasts that glowed,	6	······
The fragrant clouds of hair:	6	·/˘···
They flowed	2	··
Around him like a snare.	6	······
O'er Phlegethon he stood,	6	·/˘˘··
For utmost anguish named:	6	·/·/˘·
The flood	2	··
Below him roared and flamed.	6	······
Out of his hand the lyre	6	······
Suddenly slipped and fell,	6	/˘˘···
The fire	3	·/˘
Acclaimed it into hell.	6	˘/····
The night grew dark again:	6	····˘/
There came a bitter cry	6	···/˘·
Of pain,	2	··
Oh Love, once more I die!	6	······
And lo, the earth-dawn broke,	6	······
And like a wraith she fled:	6	······
He woke	2	··
Alone: his love was dead.	6	˘/····
He woke on earth: the day	6	······
Shone coldly: at his side	6	·/˘···
There lay	2	··
The body of his bride.	6	·/˘···

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.

More by Alfred Noyes

Collected Poems, Volume One