A Picture at Newstead
What made my heart, at Newstead, fullest swell?--’Twas not the thought of Byron, of his cryStormily sweet, his Titan-agony;It was the sight of that Lord ArundelWho struck, in heat, his child he loved so well,And his child’s reason flickered, and did die.Painted (he willed it) in the galleryThey hang; the picture doth the story tell.
Behold the stern, mailed father, staff in hand!The little fair-haired son, with vacant gaze,Where no more lights of sense or knowledge are!
Methinks the woe, which made that father standBaring his dumb remorse to future days,Was woe than Byron’s woe more tragic far.
Words in this poem
- stormily adv.
- In a stormy manner.
- mailed a.
- Protected by an external coat, or covering, of scales or plates.
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Picture at Newstead is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #54985; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matthew Arnold, A Picture at Newstead, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/a-picture-at-newstead.html, id L06977.
Form and metre
A Picture at Newstead is 14 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is CDE, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AB--AB-A swellA · cryB · agony · arundel · wellA · dieB · gallery · tellA
- 2 CDE handC · gazeD · areE
- 3 CDE standC · daysD · farE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What made my heart, at Newstead, fullest swell?-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| ’Twas not the thought of Byron, of his cry | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Stormily sweet, his Titan-agony; | 10 | /˘˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| It was the sight of that Lord Arundel | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Who struck, in heat, his child he loved so well, | 10 | ·········· |
| And his child’s reason flickered, and did die. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Painted (he willed it) in the gallery | 10 | /˘·····/˘˘ |
| They hang; the picture doth the story tell. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Behold the stern, mailed father, staff in hand! | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| The little fair-haired son, with vacant gaze, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Where no more lights of sense or knowledge are! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Methinks the woe, which made that father stand | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Baring his dumb remorse to future days, | 10 | /˘··˘/·/˘· |
| Was woe than Byron’s woe more tragic far. | 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.