King and Slave
If in my soul, dear,An omen should dwell,Bidding me pause, ereI love thee too well;If the whole circle,Of noble and wise,With stern forebodings,Between us should rise.
I will tell them, dear,That Love reigns--a King,Where storms cannot reach him,And words cannot sting;He counts it dishonourHis faith to recall;He trusts;--and for everHe gives--and gives all!
I will tell thee, dear,That Love is--a Slave,Who dreads thought of freedom,As life dreads the grave;And if doubt or perilOf change there may be,Such fear would but drive himStill nearer to thee!
Words in this poem
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
King and Slave is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, King and Slave, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/king-and-slave.html, id L21772.
Form and metre
King and Slave is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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 ABABBC-C dearA · dwellB · ereA · wellB · circleB · wiseC · forebodings · riseC
- 2 -A-A-B-B dear · kingA · him · stingA · dishonour · recallB · ever · allB
- 3 -ABA-CBC dear · slaveA · freedomB · graveA · peril · beC · himB · theeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If in my soul, dear, | 5 | ····· |
| An omen should dwell, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Bidding me pause, ere | 5 | /˘··· |
| I love thee too well; | 5 | ····· |
| If the whole circle, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Of noble and wise, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| With stern forebodings, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Between us should rise. | 5 | ····· |
| I will tell them, dear, | 5 | ····· |
| That Love reigns--a King, | 5 | ····· |
| Where storms cannot reach him, | 6 | ··/˘·· |
| And words cannot sting; | 5 | ··/˘· |
| He counts it dishonour | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| His faith to recall; | 5 | ···/· |
| He trusts;--and for ever | 6 | ····/˘ |
| He gives--and gives all! | 5 | ····· |
| I will tell thee, dear, | 5 | ····· |
| That Love is--a Slave, | 5 | ····· |
| Who dreads thought of freedom, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| As life dreads the grave; | 5 | ····· |
| And if doubt or peril | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Of change there may be, | 5 | ····· |
| Such fear would but drive him | 6 | ······ |
| Still nearer to thee! | 5 | ·/˘·· |
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.