The Lion and the Lamb
I saw a Tiger's golden flank,I saw what food he ate,By a desert spring he drank;The Tiger's name was Hate.
Then I saw a placid LambLying fast asleep;Like a river from its damFlashed the Tiger's leap.
I saw a Lion tawny-red,Terrible and brave;The Tiger's leap overheadBroke like a wave.
In sand below or sun aboveHe faded like a flame.The Lamb said, "I am Love";"Lion, tell your name."
The Lion's voice thunderingShook his vaulted breast,"I am Love. By this spring,Brother, let us rest."
Words in this poem
- drank n.
- Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [Cf. 3d Drake.]
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- thundering a.
- Emitting thunder.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Lion and the Lamb is in the public domain. This text is taken from Nets to Catch the Wind, Project Gutenberg ebook #6682; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Elinor Wylie, The Lion and the Lamb, in Nets to Catch the Wind (1921), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6682, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wylie-nets/the-lion-and-the-lamb.html, id L12762.
Form and metre
The Lion and the Lamb is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABAB flankA · ateB · drankA · hateB
- 2 ABAB lambA · asleepB · damA · leapB
- 3 ABAB redA · braveB · overheadA · waveB
- 4 ABAB aboveA · flameB · loveA · nameB
- 5 ABAB thunderingA · breastB · springA · restB
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I saw a Tiger's golden flank, | 7 | ···//˘· |
| I saw what food he ate, | 6 | ······ |
| By a desert spring he drank; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The Tiger's name was Hate. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Then I saw a placid Lamb | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lying fast asleep; | 5 | /˘·˘/ |
| Like a river from its dam | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Flashed the Tiger's leap. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| I saw a Lion tawny-red, | 7 | ···//˘· |
| Terrible and brave; | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| The Tiger's leap overhead | 6 | ·/·/˘/ |
| Broke like a wave. | 4 | ···· |
| In sand below or sun above | 8 | ········ |
| He faded like a flame. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The Lamb said, "I am Love"; | 6 | ······ |
| "Lion, tell your name." | 5 | /˘··· |
| The Lion's voice thundering | 7 | ·/˘·/˘˘ |
| Shook his vaulted breast, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| "I am Love. By this spring, | 6 | ······ |
| Brother, let us rest." | 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.