The Ballad of Oriana
My heart is wasted with my woe, Oriana.There is no rest for me below, Oriana.When the long dun wolds are ribb’d with snow,And loud the Norland whirlwinds blow, Oriana,Alone I wander to and fro, Oriana.
Ere the light on dark was growing, Oriana,At midnight the cock was crowing, Oriana:Winds were blowing, waters flowing,We heard the steeds to battle going, Oriana;Aloud the hollow bugle blowing, Oriana.
In the yew-wood black as night, Oriana,Ere I rode into the fight, Oriana,While blissful tears blinded my sightBy star-shine and by moonlight, Oriana,I to thee my troth did plight, Oriana.
She stood upon the castle wall, Oriana:She watch’d my crest among them all, Oriana:She saw me fight, she heard me call,When forth there stept a foeman tall, Oriana,Atween me and the castle wall, Oriana.
The bitter arrow went aside, Oriana:The false, false arrow went aside, Oriana:The damned arrow glanced aside,And pierced thy heart, my love, my bride, Oriana!Thy heart, my life, my love, my bride, Oriana!
Oh! narrow, narrow was the space, Oriana.Loud, loud rung out the bugle’s brays, Oriana.Oh! deathful stabs were dealt apace,The battle deepen’d in its place, Oriana;But I was down upon my face, Oriana.
They should have stabb’d me where I lay, Oriana!How could I rise and come away, Oriana?How could I look upon the day?They should have stabb’d me where I lay, OrianaThey should have trod me into clay, Oriana.
O breaking heart that will not break, Oriana!O pale, pale face so sweet and meek, Oriana!Thou smilest, but thou dost not speak,And then the tears run down my cheek, Oriana:What wantest thou? whom dost thou seek, Oriana?
I cry aloud: none hear my cries, Oriana.Thou comest atween me and the skies, Oriana.I feel the tears of blood ariseUp from my heart unto my eyes, Oriana.Within my heart my arrow lies, Oriana.
O cursed hand! O cursed blow! Oriana!O happy thou that liest low, Oriana!All night the silence seems to flowBeside me in my utter woe, Oriana.A weary, weary way I go, Oriana.
When Norland winds pipe down the sea, Oriana,I walk, I dare not think of thee, Oriana.Thou liest beneath the greenwood tree,I dare not die and come to thee, Oriana.I hear the roaring of the sea, Oriana.
Words in this poem 15
- norland n.
- The land in the north; north country. [Chiefly Poetic]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- rode n.
- Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
- blissful a.
- Full of, characterized by, or causing, joy and felicity; happy in the highest degree.
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
- foeman n.
- An enemy in war. [AS. fhman.]
- atween adv.
- Between. Spenser. [See Atwain, and cf. Between.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- damned a.
- Sentenced to punishment in a future state; condemned; consigned to perdition.
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- deathful a.
- Full of death or slaughter; murderous; destructive; bloody.
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- greenwood n.
- A forest as it appears is spring and summer.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Ballad of Oriana is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Early Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg ebook #8601; 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 Tennyson, The Ballad of Oriana, in The Early Poems (1830–1842), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tennyson-early-poems/the-ballad-of-oriana.html, id L16520.
Form and metre
The Ballad of Oriana is 55 lines in 11 stanzas of 5 lines each. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 45 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · snow · orianaA · orianaA
- 2 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · flowing · orianaA · orianaA
- 3 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · sight · orianaA · orianaA
- 4 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · call · orianaA · orianaA
- 5 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · aside · orianaA · orianaA
- 6 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · apace · orianaA · orianaA
- 7 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · day · orianaA · orianaA
- 8 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · speak · orianaA · orianaA
- 9 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · arise · orianaA · orianaA
- 10 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · flow · orianaA · orianaA
- 11 AA-AA orianaA · orianaA · tree · orianaA · orianaA
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| My heart is wasted with my woe, Oriana. | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| There is no rest for me below, Oriana. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| When the long dun wolds are ribb’d with snow, | 9 | ········· |
| And loud the Norland whirlwinds blow, Oriana, | 11 | ···/˘/··˘/˘ |
| Alone I wander to and fro, Oriana. | 11 | ˘/·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Ere the light on dark was growing, Oriana, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| At midnight the cock was crowing, Oriana: | 11 | ·/····/˘˘/˘ |
| Winds were blowing, waters flowing, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| We heard the steeds to battle going, Oriana; | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Aloud the hollow bugle blowing, Oriana. | 12 | ˘/·/˘/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| In the yew-wood black as night, Oriana, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Ere I rode into the fight, Oriana, | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| While blissful tears blinded my sight | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| By star-shine and by moonlight, Oriana, | 10 | ·····/·˘/˘ |
| I to thee my troth did plight, Oriana. | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| She stood upon the castle wall, Oriana: | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| She watch’d my crest among them all, Oriana: | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| She saw me fight, she heard me call, | 8 | ········ |
| When forth there stept a foeman tall, Oriana, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Atween me and the castle wall, Oriana. | 11 | ˘/···/˘·˘/˘ |
| The bitter arrow went aside, Oriana: | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| The false, false arrow went aside, Oriana: | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| The damned arrow glanced aside, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| And pierced thy heart, my love, my bride, Oriana! | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Thy heart, my life, my love, my bride, Oriana! | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Oh! narrow, narrow was the space, Oriana. | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| Loud, loud rung out the bugle’s brays, Oriana. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Oh! deathful stabs were dealt apace, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The battle deepen’d in its place, Oriana; | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| But I was down upon my face, Oriana. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| They should have stabb’d me where I lay, Oriana! | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| How could I rise and come away, Oriana? | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| How could I look upon the day? | 8 | ········ |
| They should have stabb’d me where I lay, Oriana | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| They should have trod me into clay, Oriana. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| O breaking heart that will not break, Oriana! | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| O pale, pale face so sweet and meek, Oriana! | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Thou smilest, but thou dost not speak, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And then the tears run down my cheek, Oriana: | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| What wantest thou? whom dost thou seek, Oriana? | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| I cry aloud: none hear my cries, Oriana. | 11 | ··˘/····˘/˘ |
| Thou comest atween me and the skies, Oriana. | 12 | ···˘/····˘/˘ |
| I feel the tears of blood arise | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Up from my heart unto my eyes, Oriana. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Within my heart my arrow lies, Oriana. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| O cursed hand! O cursed blow! Oriana! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| O happy thou that liest low, Oriana! | 10 | ·/˘····˘/˘ |
| All night the silence seems to flow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Beside me in my utter woe, Oriana. | 11 | ˘/···/˘·˘/˘ |
| A weary, weary way I go, Oriana. | 11 | ·/˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| When Norland winds pipe down the sea, Oriana, | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| I walk, I dare not think of thee, Oriana. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Thou liest beneath the greenwood tree, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| I dare not die and come to thee, Oriana. | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| I hear the roaring of the sea, Oriana. | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
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.