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The Proud Lady

Henry Van Dyke (1852–1933) · 1925

common measure · ABAB · 80 lines · from The Poems of Henry Van Dyke

When Staevoren town was in its primeAnd queened the Zuyder Zee,Her ships went out to every climeWith costly merchantry.

A lady dwelt in that rich town,The fairest in all the land;She walked abroad in a velvet gown,With many rings on her hand.

Her hair was bright as the beaten gold,Her lips as coral red,Her roving eyes were blue and bold,And her heart with pride was fed.

For she was proud of her father's ships,As she watched them gaily pass;And pride looked out of her eyes and lipsWhen she saw herself in the glass.

"Now come," she said to the captains ten,Who were ready to put to sea,"Ye are all my men and my father's men,And what will ye do for me?"

"Go north and south, go east and west,And get me gifts," she said."And he who bringeth me home the best,With that man will I wed."

So they all fared forth, and sought with careIn many a famous mart,For satins and silks and jewels rare,To win that lady's heart.

She looked at them all with never a thought,And careless put them by;"I am not fain of the things ye brought,Enough of these have I."

The last that came was the head of the fleet,His name was Jan Borel;He bent his knee at the lady's feet,--In truth he loved her well.

"I've brought thee home the best i' the world,A shipful of Danzig corn!"She stared at him long; her red lips curled,Her blue eyes filled with scorn.

"Now out on thee, thou feckless kerl,A loon thou art," she said."Am I a starving beggar girl?Shall I ever lack for bread?"

"Go empty all thy sacks of grainInto the nearest sea,And never show thy face againTo make a mock of me."

Young Jan Borel, he answered naught,But in the harbour castThe sacks of golden corn he brought,And groaned when fell the last.

Then Jan Borel, he hoisted sail,And out to sea he bore;He passed the Helder in a galeAnd came again no more.

But the grains of corn went drifting downLike devil-scattered seed,To sow the harbour of the townWith a wicked growth of weed.

The roots were thick and the silt and sandWere gathered day by day,Till not a furlong out from landA shoal had barred the way.

Then Staevoren town saw evil years,No ships could out or in,The boats lay rotting at the piers,And the mouldy grain in the bin.

The grass-grown streets were all forlorn,The town in ruin stood,The lady's velvet gown was torn,Her rings were sold for food.

Her father had perished long ago,But the lady held her pride,She walked with a scornful step and slow,Till at last in her rags she died.

Yet still on the crumbling piers of the town,When the midnight moon shines free,A woman walks in a velvet gownAnd scatters corn in the sea.

Words in this poem

went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
clime n.: A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
merchantry n.: The body of merchants taken collectively; as, the merchantry of a country.
gaily adv.: Merrily; showily. See gaily. [From Gay.]
mart v. t.: To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
fain v. t.: To be glad ; to wish or desire.
shipful n.: As much or as many as a ship will hold; enough to fill a ship.
feckless a.: Spiritless; weak; worthless. [Perh. a corruption of effectless.]
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,]
harbour n.: A station for rest and entertainment; a place of security and comfort; a refuge; a shelter. [OE herbor, herberwe, herberge, Icel. herbergi (cf. OHG. heriberga), orig., a shelter for soldiers; herr army + bjarga to save, help, defend; akin to AS. here ar]
silt n.: Mud or fine earth deposited from running or standing water. [OE. silte gravel, fr. silen to drain, E. sile; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. sila, prob. akin to AS. seón to filter, sigan to fall, sink, cause to sink, G.]
furlong n.: A measure of length; the eighth part of a mile; forty rods; two hundred and twenty yards. [OE. furlong, furlang, AS. furlang, furlung, prop., the length of a furrow; furh furrow + lang long. See Furrow, and Long, a.]
mouldy a.: Overgrown with, or containing, mold; as, moldy cheese or bread. [From Mold the growth of fungi.]
forlorn a.: Deserted abandoned; lost. [OE., p.p. of forlesen to lose utterly, AS. forleósan (p.p. forloren); pref. for- + leósan (in comp.) to lose; cf. D. verliezen to lose, G. verlieren, Sw. förlor]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Proud Lady 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 Proud Lady, in The Poems of Henry Van Dyke (1925), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16229, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/van-dyke-poems/the-proud-lady.html, id L22798.

Form and metre

The Proud Lady is 80 lines in 20 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 18 of its 20 stanzas. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).

See other poems in common measure.

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- prime^A · zee · clime^A · merchantry
2 ABAB town^A · land^B · gown^A · hand^B
3 ABAB gold^A · red^B · bold^A · fed^B
4 ABAB ships^A · pass^B · lips^A · glass^B
5 ABAB ten^A · sea^B · men^A · me^B
6 ABAB west^A · said^B · best^A · wed^B
7 ABAB care^A · mart^B · rare^A · heart^B
8 ABAB thought^A · by^B · brought^A · i^B
9 ABAB fleet^A · borel^B · feet^A · well^B
10 ABAB world^A · corn^B · curled^A · scorn^B
11 ABAB kerl^A · said^B · girl^A · bread^B
12 ABAB grain^A · sea^B · again^A · me^B
13 ABAB naught^A · cast^B · brought^A · last^B
14 ABAB sail^A · bore^B · gale^A · more^B
15 ABAB down^A · seed^B · town^A · weed^B
16 ABAB sand^A · day^B · land^A · way^B
17 ABAB years^A · in^B · piers^A · bin^B
18 A-A- forlorn^A · stood · torn^A · food
19 ABAB ago^A · pride^B · slow^A · died^B
20 ABAB town^A · free^B · gown^A · sea^B

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 common measure. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
When Staevoren town was in its prime	9	·········
And queened the Zuyder Zee,	6	······
Her ships went out to every clime	9	·····/˘˘·
With costly merchantry.	6	·/˘/˘˘
A lady dwelt in that rich town,	8	·/˘·····
The fairest in all the land;	7	·/˘····
She walked abroad in a velvet gown,	9	··˘/··/˘·
With many rings on her hand.	7	·/˘····
Her hair was bright as the beaten gold,	9	······/˘·
Her lips as coral red,	6	···/˘·
Her roving eyes were blue and bold,	8	·/˘·····
And her heart with pride was fed.	7	·······
For she was proud of her father's ships,	9	······/˘·
As she watched them gaily pass;	7	····/˘·
And pride looked out of her eyes and lips	9	·········
When she saw herself in the glass.	8	···˘/···
"Now come," she said to the captains ten,	9	······/˘·
Who were ready to put to sea,	8	··/˘····
"Ye are all my men and my father's men,	10	·······/˘·
And what will ye do for me?"	7	·······
"Go north and south, go east and west,	8	········
And get me gifts," she said.	6	······
"And he who bringeth me home the best,	9	···/˘····
With that man will I wed."	6	······
So they all fared forth, and sought with care	9	·········
In many a famous mart,	7	·/˘·/˘·
For satins and silks and jewels rare,	9	·/˘···/˘·
To win that lady's heart.	6	···/˘·
She looked at them all with never a thought,	10	······/˘··
And careless put them by;	6	·/˘···
"I am not fain of the things ye brought,	9	·········
Enough of these have I."	6	˘/····
The last that came was the head of the fleet,	10	··········
His name was Jan Borel;	6	····/˘
He bent his knee at the lady's feet,--	9	······/˘·
In truth he loved her well.	6	······
"I've brought thee home the best i' the world,	9	·········
A shipful of Danzig corn!"	7	·/˘·/˘·
She stared at him long; her red lips curled,	9	·········
Her blue eyes filled with scorn.	6	······
"Now out on thee, thou feckless kerl,	8	·····/˘·
A loon thou art," she said.	6	······
"Am I a starving beggar girl?	8	···/˘/˘·
Shall I ever lack for bread?"	7	··/˘···
"Go empty all thy sacks of grain	8	·/˘·····
Into the nearest sea,	6	···/˘·
And never show thy face again	8	·/˘···˘/
To make a mock of me."	6	······
Young Jan Borel, he answered naught,	8	··/˘·/˘·
But in the harbour cast	6	···/˘·
The sacks of golden corn he brought,	8	···/˘···
And groaned when fell the last.	6	······
Then Jan Borel, he hoisted sail,	8	··/˘·/˘·
And out to sea he bore;	6	······
He passed the Helder in a gale	8	···/˘···
And came again no more.	6	··˘/··
But the grains of corn went drifting down	9	······/˘·
Like devil-scattered seed,	6	·/˘/˘·
To sow the harbour of the town	8	···/˘···
With a wicked growth of weed.	7	··/˘···
The roots were thick and the silt and sand	9	·········
Were gathered day by day,	6	·/˘···
Till not a furlong out from land	8	···/····
A shoal had barred the way.	6	······
Then Staevoren town saw evil years,	9	······/˘·
No ships could out or in,	6	······
The boats lay rotting at the piers,	8	···/˘···
And the mouldy grain in the bin.	8	··/˘····
The grass-grown streets were all forlorn,	8	······˘/
The town in ruin stood,	6	···/˘·
The lady's velvet gown was torn,	8	·/˘/˘···
Her rings were sold for food.	6	······
Her father had perished long ago,	9	·/˘·/˘·˘/
But the lady held her pride,	7	··/˘···
She walked with a scornful step and slow,	9	····/˘···
Till at last in her rags she died.	8	········
Yet still on the crumbling piers of the town,	10	····/˘····
When the midnight moon shines free,	7	··/····
A woman walks in a velvet gown	9	·/˘···/˘·
And scatters corn in the sea.	7	·/˘····

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.

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