The Water-Nymph and the Boy
I flung me round him,I drew him under;I clung, I drown’d him,My own white wonder!...
Father and mother,Weeping and wild,Came to the forest,Calling the child,Came from the palace,Down to the pool,Calling my darling,My beautiful!Under the water,Cold and so pale!Could it be love madeBeauty to fail?
Ah me for mortals!In a few moons,If I had left him,After some JunesHe would have faded,Faded away,He, the young monarch, whomAll would obey,Fairer than day;Alien to springtime,Joyless and gray,He would have faded,Faded away,Moving a mockery,Scorn’d of the day!Now I have taken himAll in his prime,Saved from slow poisoningPitiless Time,Fill’d with his happiness,One with the prime,Saved from the cruelDishonour of Time.Laid him, my beautiful,Laid him to rest,Loving, adorable,Softly to rest,Here in my crystalline,Here in my breast!
Words in this poem
- clung a.
- Wasted away; shrunken. [Prop. p. p. fr. OE. clingen to wither. See Cling, v. i.]
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
- joyless a.
- Not having joy; not causing joy; unenjoyable.
- dishonour n.
- Lack of honor; disgrace; ignominy; shame; reproach. [OE. deshonour, dishonour, OF. deshonor, deshonur, F. déshonneur; pref. des- (L. dis-) + honor, honur, F. honneur, fr. L. honor. See Honor.]
- adorable a.
- Deserving to be adored; worthy of divine honors. [L. adorabilis, fr. adorare: cf. F. adorable.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Water-Nymph and the Boy is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel, The Water-Nymph and the Boy, in Poems (1834–1894), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-roden-berkeley-wriothesley-noel/the-water-nymph-and-the-boy.html, id L16247.
Form and metre
The Water-Nymph and the Boy is 45 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is dactylic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 95%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 4.6 syllables. 16 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in dactylic dimeter.
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 himA · underB · himA · wonderB
- 2 -A-A-B-B-C-C mother · wildA · forest · childA · palace · poolB · darling · beautifulB · water · paleC · made · failC
- 3 -ABACD-DDEDCD-DBE-E-E-E-F-F-F mortals · moonsA · himB · junesA · fadedC · awayD · whom · obeyD · dayD · springtimeE · grayD · fadedC · awayD · mockery · dayD · himB · primeE · poisoning · timeE · happiness · primeE · cruel · timeE · beautiful · restF · adorable · restF · crystalline · breastF
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 dactylic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I flung me round him, | 5 | ····· |
| I drew him under; | 5 | ····· |
| I clung, I drown’d him, | 5 | ····· |
| My own white wonder!... | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Father and mother, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Weeping and wild, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Came to the forest, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Calling the child, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Came from the palace, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Down to the pool, | 4 | ···· |
| Calling my darling, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| My beautiful! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Under the water, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Cold and so pale! | 4 | ···· |
| Could it be love made | 5 | ····· |
| Beauty to fail? | 4 | /˘·· |
| Ah me for mortals! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| In a few moons, | 4 | ···· |
| If I had left him, | 5 | ····· |
| After some Junes | 4 | ···· |
| He would have faded, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Faded away, | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| He, the young monarch, whom | 6 | ···/·· |
| All would obey, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Fairer than day; | 4 | /˘·· |
| Alien to springtime, | 5 | /˘·/· |
| Joyless and gray, | 4 | /˘·· |
| He would have faded, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Faded away, | 4 | /˘˘/ |
| Moving a mockery, | 5 | /˘·/˘ |
| Scorn’d of the day! | 4 | ···· |
| Now I have taken him | 6 | ···/˘· |
| All in his prime, | 4 | ···· |
| Saved from slow poisoning | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Pitiless Time, | 4 | /˘˘· |
| Fill’d with his happiness, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| One with the prime, | 4 | ···· |
| Saved from the cruel | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Dishonour of Time. | 5 | ˘/˘·· |
| Laid him, my beautiful, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Laid him to rest, | 4 | ···· |
| Loving, adorable, | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| Softly to rest, | 4 | /˘·· |
| Here in my crystalline, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Here in my breast! | 4 | ···· |
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.