Noble Sisters
'Now did you mark a falcon,Sister dear, sister dear,Flying toward my windowIn the morning cool and clear?With jingling bells about her neck,But what beneath her wing?It may have been a ribbon,Or it may have been a ring.'--'I marked a falcon swoopingAt the break of day;And for your love, my sister dove,I 'frayed the thief away.'--
'Or did you spy a ruddy hound,Sister fair and tall,Went snuffing round my garden bound,Or crouched by my bower wall?With a silken leash about his neck;But in his mouth may beA chain of gold and silver links,Or a letter writ to me.'--'I heard a hound, highborn sister,Stood baying at the moon;I rose and drove him from your wallLest you should wake too soon.'--
'Or did you meet a pretty pageSat swinging on the gate;Sat whistling whistling like a bird,Or may be slept too late;With eaglets broidered on his cap,And eaglets on his glove?If you had turned his pockets out,You had found some pledge of love.'--'I met him at this daybreak,Scarce the east was red:Lest the creaking gate should anger you,I packed him home to bed.'--
'Oh patience, sister. Did you seeA young man tall and strong,Swift-footed to uphold the rightAnd to uproot the wrong,Come home across the desolate seaTo woo me for his wife?And in his heart my heart is locked,And in his life my life.'--'I met a nameless man, sister,Hard by your chamber door:I said: Her husband loves her much.And yet she loves him more.'--
'Fie, sister, fie, a wicked lie,A lie, a wicked lie,I have none other love but him,Nor will have till I die.And you have turned him from our door,And stabbed him with a lie:I will go seek him thro' the worldIn sorrow till I die.'--'Go seek in sorrow, sister,And find in sorrow too:If thus you shame our father's nameMy curse go forth with you.'
Words in this poem
- jingling n.
- The act or process of producing a jingle; also, the sound itself; a chink.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- crouched a.
- Marked with the sign of the cross. Crouched friar. See Crutched friar, under Crutched.
- highborn a.
- Of noble birth.
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- uproot v. t.
- To root up; to tear up by the roots, or as if by the roots; to remove utterly; to eradicate; to extirpate.
- nameless a.
- Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Noble Sisters is in the public domain. This text is taken from Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #16950; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Christina Rossetti, Noble Sisters, in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16950, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rossetti-goblin-market/noble-sisters.html, id L04245.
Form and metre
Noble Sisters is 60 lines in 5 stanzas of 12 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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-B-BBC-C falcon · dearA · window · clearA · neck · wingB · ribbon · ringB · swoopingB · dayC · dove · awayC
- 2 ABAB-C-C-DBD houndA · tallB · boundA · wallB · neck · beC · links · meC · sister · moonD · wallB · soonD
- 3 -A-A-B-B-C-C page · gateA · bird · lateA · cap · gloveB · out · loveB · daybreak · redC · you · bedC
- 4 AB-BAC-C-D-D seeA · strongB · right · wrongB · seaA · wifeC · locked · lifeC · sister · doorD · much · moreD
- 5 AA-A-A-A-B-B lieA · lieA · him · dieA · door · lieA · world · dieA · sister · tooB · name · youB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| 'Now did you mark a falcon, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Sister dear, sister dear, | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Flying toward my window | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| In the morning cool and clear? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With jingling bells about her neck, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But what beneath her wing? | 6 | ······ |
| It may have been a ribbon, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or it may have been a ring.'-- | 7 | ······· |
| 'I marked a falcon swooping | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| At the break of day; | 5 | ····· |
| And for your love, my sister dove, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I 'frayed the thief away.'-- | 6 | ····˘/ |
| 'Or did you spy a ruddy hound, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sister fair and tall, | 5 | /˘··· |
| Went snuffing round my garden bound, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or crouched by my bower wall? | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With a silken leash about his neck; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| But in his mouth may be | 6 | ······ |
| A chain of gold and silver links, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or a letter writ to me.'-- | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| 'I heard a hound, highborn sister, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Stood baying at the moon; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| I rose and drove him from your wall | 8 | ········ |
| Lest you should wake too soon.'-- | 6 | ······ |
| 'Or did you meet a pretty page | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sat swinging on the gate; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Sat whistling whistling like a bird, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Or may be slept too late; | 6 | ······ |
| With eaglets broidered on his cap, | 8 | ········ |
| And eaglets on his glove? | 6 | ······ |
| If you had turned his pockets out, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You had found some pledge of love.'-- | 7 | ······· |
| 'I met him at this daybreak, | 7 | ·····/· |
| Scarce the east was red: | 5 | ····· |
| Lest the creaking gate should anger you, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| I packed him home to bed.'-- | 6 | ······ |
| 'Oh patience, sister. Did you see | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A young man tall and strong, | 6 | ······ |
| Swift-footed to uphold the right | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And to uproot the wrong, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Come home across the desolate sea | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| To woo me for his wife? | 6 | ······ |
| And in his heart my heart is locked, | 8 | ········ |
| And in his life my life.'-- | 6 | ······ |
| 'I met a nameless man, sister, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Hard by your chamber door: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I said: Her husband loves her much. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And yet she loves him more.'-- | 6 | ······ |
| 'Fie, sister, fie, a wicked lie, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A lie, a wicked lie, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I have none other love but him, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Nor will have till I die. | 6 | ······ |
| And you have turned him from our door, | 8 | ······/· |
| And stabbed him with a lie: | 6 | ······ |
| I will go seek him thro' the world | 8 | ········ |
| In sorrow till I die.'-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| 'Go seek in sorrow, sister, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And find in sorrow too: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If thus you shame our father's name | 8 | ····//˘· |
| My curse go forth with you.' | 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.