My Nora
Beneath the gold acacia budsMy gentle Nora sits and broods,Far, far away in Boston woodsMy gentle Nora!
I see the tear-drop in her e'e,Her bosom's heaving tenderly;I know--I know she thinks of me,My Darling Nora!
And where am I? My love, whilst thouSitt'st sad beneath the acacia bough,Where pearl's on neck, and wreath on brow,I stand, my Nora!
Mid carcanet and coronet,Where joy-lamps shine and flowers are set--Where England's chivalry are met,Behold me, Nora!
In this strange scene of revelry,Amidst this gorgeous chivalry,A form I saw was like to thee,My love--my Nora!
She paused amidst her converse glad;The lady saw that I was sad,She pitied the poor lonely lad,--Dost love her, Nora?
In sooth, she is a lovely dame,A lip of red, and eye of flame,And clustering golden locks, the sameAs thine, dear Nora?
Her glance is softer than the dawn's,Her foot is lighter than the fawn's,Her breast is whiter than the swan's,Or thine, my Nora!
Oh, gentle breast to pity me!Oh, lovely Ladye Emily!Till death--till death I'll think of thee--Of thee and Nora!
Words in this poem
- tenderly adv.
- In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly.
- carcanet n.
- A jeweled chain, necklace, or collar. [Also written carkenet and carcant.] [Dim. fr. F. carcan the iron collar or chain of a criminal, a chain of preciousstones, LL. carcannum, fr. Armor. kerchen bosom, neck, kechen collar, fr. kelch ci]
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
My Nora is in the public domain. This text is taken from Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #2732; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Makepeace Thackeray, My Nora, in Ballads (1849–1855), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2732, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/thackeray-ballads/my-nora.html, id L10359.
Form and metre
My Nora is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.3 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% 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.
- 2 A-A- e'eA · tenderly · meA · nora
- 3 AAA- thouA · boughA · browA · nora
- 4 AAA- coronetA · setA · metA · nora
- 6 AAA- gladA · sadA · ladA · nora
- 7 AAA- dameA · flameA · sameA · nora
- 8 AAA- dawn'sA · fawn'sA · swan'sA · nora
- 9 A-A- meA · emily · theeA · nora
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beneath the gold acacia buds | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| My gentle Nora sits and broods, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Far, far away in Boston woods | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| My gentle Nora! | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| I see the tear-drop in her e'e, | 8 | ········ |
| Her bosom's heaving tenderly; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| I know--I know she thinks of me, | 8 | ········ |
| My Darling Nora! | 5 | ·/˘/˘ |
| And where am I? My love, whilst thou | 8 | ········ |
| Sitt'st sad beneath the acacia bough, | 9 | ·····˘/˘· |
| Where pearl's on neck, and wreath on brow, | 8 | ········ |
| I stand, my Nora! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Mid carcanet and coronet, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘/ |
| Where joy-lamps shine and flowers are set-- | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Where England's chivalry are met, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Behold me, Nora! | 5 | ˘/·/˘ |
| In this strange scene of revelry, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Amidst this gorgeous chivalry, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘ |
| A form I saw was like to thee, | 8 | ········ |
| My love--my Nora! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| She paused amidst her converse glad; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The lady saw that I was sad, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| She pitied the poor lonely lad,-- | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Dost love her, Nora? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| In sooth, she is a lovely dame, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A lip of red, and eye of flame, | 8 | ········ |
| And clustering golden locks, the same | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| As thine, dear Nora? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Her glance is softer than the dawn's, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her foot is lighter than the fawn's, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Her breast is whiter than the swan's, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or thine, my Nora! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Oh, gentle breast to pity me! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Oh, lovely Ladye Emily! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Till death--till death I'll think of thee-- | 8 | ········ |
| Of thee and Nora! | 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.