For a Grotto
To me, whom in their lays the shepherds callActaea, daughter of the neighbouring stream,This cave belongs. The fig-tree and the vine,Which o'er the rocky entrance downward shoot,Were placed by Glycou. He with cowslips pale,Primrose, and purple lychnis, deck'd the greenBefore my threshold, and my shelving wallsWith honeysuckle cover'd. Here at noon,Lull'd by the murmur of my rising fount,I slumber; here my clustering fruits I tend;Or from the humid flowers, at break of day,Fresh garlands weave, and chase from all my boundsEach thing impure or noxious. Enter in,O stranger, undismay'd. Nor bat, nor toadHere lurks; and if thy breast of blameless thoughtsApprove thee, not unwelcome shalt thou treadMy quiet mansion; chiefly, if thy nameWise Pallas and the immortal Muses own.
Words in this poem
- neighbouring a.
- Living or being near; adjacent; as, the neighboring nations or countries.
- shelving a.
- Sloping gradually; inclining; as, a shelving shore.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For a Grotto 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 Grotto, in The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside (1744), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9814, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/akenside-poems/for-a-grotto.html, id L09543.
Form and metre
For a Grotto is 18 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%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 44% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| To me, whom in their lays the shepherds call | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Actaea, daughter of the neighbouring stream, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘˘· |
| This cave belongs. The fig-tree and the vine, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Which o'er the rocky entrance downward shoot, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Were placed by Glycou. He with cowslips pale, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Primrose, and purple lychnis, deck'd the green | 10 | /··/˘/˘··· |
| Before my threshold, and my shelving walls | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| With honeysuckle cover'd. Here at noon, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Lull'd by the murmur of my rising fount, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| I slumber; here my clustering fruits I tend; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Or from the humid flowers, at break of day, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Fresh garlands weave, and chase from all my bounds | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Each thing impure or noxious. Enter in, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| O stranger, undismay'd. Nor bat, nor toad | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Here lurks; and if thy breast of blameless thoughts | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Approve thee, not unwelcome shalt thou tread | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘··· |
| My quiet mansion; chiefly, if thy name | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Wise Pallas and the immortal Muses own. | 11 | ·····˘/˘/˘· |
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.