Claribel (poem)

Claribel
by Alfred Tennyson
Genre(s)Romanticism
MeterIambic trimeter
Rhyme schemeIrregular
Publication date
  • 1830
  • 1842
  • 1851
Lines21
Full text
Poems (Tennyson, 1843)/Volume 1/Claribel at Wikisource

"Claribel: A Melody" is an early poem by Alfred Tennyson, first published in 1830.[1]

Text

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Illustration for Tennyson's "Claribel", engraved by T. Williams after Thomas Creswick, 1857

In the 1830 and 1842 editions the poem is in one long stanza, with a full stop in the 1830 edition after line 8; the 1842 edition omits the full stop.[1] The name "Claribel" may have been suggested by Spenser,[2] or Shakespeare.[3][1]

Where Claribel low-lieth
  The breezes pause and die,
    Letting the rose-leaves fall:
But the solemn oak-tree sigheth,
    Thick-leaved, ambrosial,
  With an ancient melody
  Of an inward agony,
Where Claribel low-lieth.

At eve the beetle boometh
  Athwart the thicket lone:
At noon the wild bee[a] hummeth
  About the moss’d headstone:
At midnight the moon cometh,
  And looketh down alone.
Her song the lintwhite swelleth,
The clear-voiced mavis dwelleth,
  The callow throstle[b] lispeth,
The slumbrous wave outwelleth,
  The babbling runnel crispeth,
The hollow grot replieth
Where Claribel low-lieth.

Notes

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  1. ^ 1830. "Wild" omitted, and "low" inserted with a hyphen before "hummeth".
  2. ^ 1851 and all previous editions, "fledgling" for "callow".

References

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  1. ^ a b c Collins, ed. 1900, p. 2.
  2. ^ The bride of Phaon in The Faerie Queene, ii., iv.
  3. ^ Claribel, daughter of Alonso, wife to the King of Tunis in the backstory of The Tempest.

Sources

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  • Collins, John Churton, ed. (1900). The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. London: Methuen & Co. pp. 2–3. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Further reading

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  • Robins, J. D. (ed.). "Claribel". Representative Poetry Online. University of Toronto Libraries.