Analysis of Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Musician's Tale; The Saga of King Olaf XX. -- Einar Tamberskelver
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807 (Portland) – 1882 (Cambridge)
It was Einar Tamberskelver
Stood beside the mast;
From his yew-bow, tipped with silver,
Flew the arrows fast;
Aimed at Eric unavailing,
As he sat concealed,
Half behind the quarter-railing,
Half behind his shield.
First an arrow struck the tiller,
Just above his head;
'Sing, O Eyvind Skaldaspiller,'
Then Earl Eric said.
'Sing the song of Hakon dying,
Sing his funeral wail!'
And another arrow flying
Grazed his coat of mail.
Turning to a Lapland yeoman,
As the arrow passed,
Said Earl Eric, 'Shoot that bowman
Standing by the mast.'
Sooner than the word was spoken
Flew the yeoman's shaft;
Einar's bow in twain was broken,
Einar only laughed.
'What was that?' said Olaf, standing
On the quarter-deck.
'Something heard I like the stranding
Of a shattered wreck.'
Einar then, the arrow taking
From the loosened string,
Answered, 'That was Norway breaking
From thy hand, O King!'
'Thou art but a poor diviner,'
Straightway Olaf said;
'Take my bow, and swifter, Einar,
Let thy shafts be sped.'
Of his bows the fairest choosing,
Reached he from above;
Einar saw the blood-drops oozing
Through his iron glove.
But the bow was thin and narrow;
At the first assay,
O'er its head he drew the arrow,
Flung the bow away;
Said, with hot and angry temper
Flushing in his cheek,
'Olaf! for so great a Kämper
Are thy bows too weak!'
Then, with smile of joy defiant
On his beardless lip,
Scaled he, light and self-reliant,
Eric's dragon-ship.
Loose his golden locks were flowing,
Bright his armor gleamed;
Like Saint Michael overthrowing
Lucifer he seemed.
Scheme | ABABCDCD AEAECFCF GBGBGHGH CICICCCC AEAECJCJ AXAXAKAK LMLMCNCN |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 11101 10101 11111110 10101 1110010 11101 10101010 10111 11101010 10111 1111 11101 10111010 111001 00101010 11111 1010110 10101 11101110 10101 10101110 10101 1101110 10101 11111010 10101 10111010 10101 10101010 10101 1011110 11111 111011 1101 11101010 11111 11101010 11101 10101110 11101 10111010 10110 101111010 10101 11101010 10011 10111011 11111 11111010 1111 11101010 10101 11101010 11101 1110100 10011 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,502 |
Words | 274 |
Sentences | 17 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 56 |
Letters per line (avg) | 21 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 171 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:20 min read
- 121 Views
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"Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Musician's Tale; The Saga of King Olaf XX. -- Einar Tamberskelver" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 20 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18766/tales-of-a-wayside-inn-%3A-part-1.-the-musician%27s-tale%3B-the-saga-of-king-olaf-xx.----einar-tamberskelver>.
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