The Lily of Yorrow
Deep in the heart of the forest the lily of Yorrow is growing;Blue is its cup as the sky, and with mystical odour o'erflowing;Faintly it falls through the shadowy glades when the south wind isblowing.
Sweet are the primroses pale and the violets after a shower;Sweet are the borders of pinks and the blossoming grapes on the bower;Sweeter by far is the breath of that far-away woodland flower.
Searching and strange in its sweetness, it steals like a perfumeenchantedUnder the arch of the forest, and all who perceive it are haunted,Seeking and seeking for ever, till sight of the lily is granted.
Who can describe how it grows, with its chalice of lazuli leaningOver a crystalline spring, where the ferns and the mosses are greening?Who can imagine its beauty, or utter the depth of its meaning?
Calm of the journeying stars, and repose of the mountains olden,Joy of the swift-running rivers, and glory of sunsets golden,Secrets that cannot be told in the heart of the flower are holden.
Surely to see it is peace and the crown of a life-long endeavour;Surely to pluck it is gladness,--but they who have found it can neverTell of the gladness and peace: they are hid from our vision for ever.
'Twas but a moment ago that a comrade was walking near me:Turning aside from the pathway he murmured a greeting to cheer me,--Then he was lost in the shade, and I called but he did not hear me.
Why should I dream he is dead, and bewail him with passionate sorrow?Surely I know there is gladness in finding the lily of Yorrow:He has discovered it first, and perhaps I shall find it to-morrow.
Words in this poem
- odour n.
- Any smell, whether fragrant or offensive; scent; perfume. [OE. odor, odour, OF. odor, odour, F. odeur, fr. L. odor; akin to olere to smell, Gr. Olfactory, Osmium, Ozone, Redolent.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- chalice n.
- A cup or bowl; especially, the cup used in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. [OR. chalis, calice, OF. chalice, calice, F. calice, fr. L. calix, akin to Gr. helmet. Cf. Calice, Calyx.]
- greening n.
- A greenish apple, of several varieties, among which the Rhode Island greening is the best known for its fine-grained acid flesh and its excellent keeping quality.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- endeavour v. t.
- To exert physical or intellectual strength for the attainment of; to use efforts to effect; to strive to achieve or reach; to try; to attempt. [OE. endevor; pref. en- + dever, devoir, duty, F. devoir: cf. F. se mettre en devoir de faire quelque chose to try to do a thing, to go about it. See Devoir, Deb]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lily of Yorrow is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke, Project Gutenberg ebook #16229; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Van Dyke, The Lily of Yorrow, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-lily-of-yorrow.html, id L22760.
Form and metre
The Lily of Yorrow is 26 lines in 8 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 54% of the lines. The metre is dactylic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in dactylic 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-A growingA · o'erflowingA · is · blowingA
- 2 AAA showerA · bowerA · flowerA
- 3 -A-A perfume · enchantedA · haunted · grantedA
- 4 AAA leaningA · greeningA · meaningA
- 5 AAA oldenA · goldenA · holdenA
- 6 AAA endeavourA · neverA · everA
- 7 AAA meA · meA · meA
- 8 AAA sorrowA · yorrowA · morrowA
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 dactylic hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Deep in the heart of the forest the lily of Yorrow is growing; | 17 | ······/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Blue is its cup as the sky, and with mystical odour o'erflowing; | 17 | ·········/˘˘/˘··· |
| Faintly it falls through the shadowy glades when the south wind is | 15 | /˘····/˘˘······ |
| blowing. | 2 | /˘ |
| Sweet are the primroses pale and the violets after a shower; | 17 | ···/·˘···/˘˘···/˘ |
| Sweet are the borders of pinks and the blossoming grapes on the bower; | 17 | ···/˘····/˘˘···/˘ |
| Sweeter by far is the breath of that far-away woodland flower. | 16 | /˘········˘//˘/˘ |
| Searching and strange in its sweetness, it steals like a perfume | 14 | /˘····/˘····˘/ |
| enchanted | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Under the arch of the forest, and all who perceive it are haunted, | 17 | ······/˘···˘/··/˘ |
| Seeking and seeking for ever, till sight of the lily is granted. | 17 | /˘·/˘·/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Who can describe how it grows, with its chalice of lazuli leaning | 17 | ··˘/·····/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Over a crystalline spring, where the ferns and the mosses are greening? | 17 | ···/˘·······/˘·/˘ |
| Who can imagine its beauty, or utter the depth of its meaning? | 17 | ··˘/˘·/˘·/˘····/˘ |
| Calm of the journeying stars, and repose of the mountains olden, | 16 | ···/˘˘··˘/··/˘/˘ |
| Joy of the swift-running rivers, and glory of sunsets golden, | 16 | ····/˘/˘·/˘·/·/˘ |
| Secrets that cannot be told in the heart of the flower are holden. | 17 | /˘·˘/·······/˘·/˘ |
| Surely to see it is peace and the crown of a life-long endeavour; | 17 | /˘············˘/˘ |
| Surely to pluck it is gladness,--but they who have found it can never | 17 | /˘····/˘·······/˘ |
| Tell of the gladness and peace: they are hid from our vision for ever. | 18 | ···/˘······/˘/˘·/˘ |
| 'Twas but a moment ago that a comrade was walking near me: | 16 | ···/˘˘/··/··/˘·· |
| Turning aside from the pathway he murmured a greeting to cheer me,-- | 17 | /˘˘/··/··/˘·/˘··· |
| Then he was lost in the shade, and I called but he did not hear me. | 17 | ··········˘······ |
| Why should I dream he is dead, and bewail him with passionate sorrow? | 17 | ········˘/··/˘˘/˘ |
| Surely I know there is gladness in finding the lily of Yorrow: | 17 | /˘····/˘·/˘·/˘··· |
| He has discovered it first, and perhaps I shall find it to-morrow. | 17 | ··˘/˘···˘/·····/˘ |
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.