Erdod
Under that city lies a garden waste,Over that garden mourns a widow' d city;Both by the grey mists of the autumn braced,On both sad memory pours her plaints of pity.
And both remind me what the fatherlandWas in old time—the beautiful, the brave;Yet still the garden cradles beauty's band,And still the city holds the heroes' grave.
In this old garden I have kissed my love,Locked her within my arms—O memory sore!Then the proud eagle held his throne above,Where now the bayonets flash, the cannons roar.
Yet welcome garden! tho' beneath thy treesNo lovers smile, or sweep thy sacred sward;Welcome old city walls, whose memoriesNow waken neither reverence nor regard!
Words in this poem
- remind v. t.
- To put (one) in mind of something; to bring to the remembrance of; to bring to the notice or consideration of (a person).
- fatherland n.
- One's native land; the native land of one's fathers or ancestors. [Imitated fr. D. vaderland. See Father, and Land.]
- waken v. i.
- To wake; to cease to sleep; to be awakened. [OE. waknen, AS. wæcnan; akin to Goth. gawaknan. See Wake, v. i.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Erdod is in the public domain. This text is taken from Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet, by Sir John Bowring (London: Trübner & Co., 1866), Internet Archive, the John Bowring 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: Sándor Petőfi, Erdod, in Translations from Alexander Petofi, the Magyar Poet (1866), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petofi-poems-bowring/erdod.html, id L29830.
Form and metre
Erdod is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABAB wasteA · cityB · bracedA · pityB
- 2 ABAB fatherlandA · braveB · bandA · graveB
- 3 ABAB loveA · soreB · aboveA · roarB
- 4 ABAB treesA · swardB · memoriesA · regardB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Under that city lies a garden waste, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Over that garden mourns a widow' d city; | 11 | ··/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| Both by the grey mists of the autumn braced, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| On both sad memory pours her plaints of pity. | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| And both remind me what the fatherland | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Was in old time—the beautiful, the brave; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Yet still the garden cradles beauty's band, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| And still the city holds the heroes' grave. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In this old garden I have kissed my love, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Locked her within my arms—O memory sore! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then the proud eagle held his throne above, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Where now the bayonets flash, the cannons roar. | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| Yet welcome garden! tho' beneath thy trees | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| No lovers smile, or sweep thy sacred sward; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Welcome old city walls, whose memories | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Now waken neither reverence nor regard! | 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.