For a Column at Runnymede
Thou, who the verdant plain dost traverse here,While Thames among his willows from thy viewRetires; O stranger, stay thee, and the sceneAround contemplate well. This is the placeWhere England's ancient barons, clad in armsAnd stern with conquest, from their tyrant king(Then render'd tame) did challenge and secureThe charter of thy freedom. Pass not onTill thou hast bless'd their memory, and paidThose thanks which God appointed the rewardOf public virtue. And if chance thy homeSalute thee with a father's honour'd name,Go, call thy sons; instruct them what a debtThey owe their ancestors; and make them swearTo pay it, by transmitting down entireThose sacred rights to which themselves were born.
Words in this poem
- contemplate v. t.
- To look at on all sides or in all its bearings; to view or consider with continued attention; to regard with deliberate care; to meditate on; to study. [L. contemplatus, p.p. of contemplari to contemplate; con- + templum a space for observation marked out by the augur. See Temple.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- instruct a.
- Arranged; furnished; provided. [L. instructus, p. p. of instruere to furnish, provide, construct, instruct; pref. in- in, struere. See Structure.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For a Column at Runnymede is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside, Project Gutenberg ebook #9814; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Mark Akenside, For a Column at Runnymede, in The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside (1744), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9814, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/akenside-poems/for-a-column-at-runnymede.html, id L09545.
Form and metre
For a Column at Runnymede is 16 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 81% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Thou, who the verdant plain dost traverse here, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While Thames among his willows from thy view | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Retires; O stranger, stay thee, and the scene | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Around contemplate well. This is the place | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Where England's ancient barons, clad in arms | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And stern with conquest, from their tyrant king | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| (Then render'd tame) did challenge and secure | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| The charter of thy freedom. Pass not on | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Till thou hast bless'd their memory, and paid | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Those thanks which God appointed the reward | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Of public virtue. And if chance thy home | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Salute thee with a father's honour'd name, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Go, call thy sons; instruct them what a debt | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| They owe their ancestors; and make them swear | 10 | ···/·˘···· |
| To pay it, by transmitting down entire | 11 | ····˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Those sacred rights to which themselves were born. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
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.