Callicles
More than a day and night, Pausanias,Of this fair summer-weather, on these hills,Would I bestow to help Empedocles.That needs no thanks: one is far better hereThan in the broiling city in these heats.But tell me, how hast thou persuaded himIn this his present fierce, man-hating mood,To bring thee out with him alone on Etna?
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- etna n.
- A kind of small, portable, cooking apparatus for which heat is furnished by a spirit lamp.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Callicles 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, Callicles, in Poems (1849–1867), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #54985, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/arnold-poems/callicles-3.html, id L07032.
Form and metre
Callicles is 8 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 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 |
|---|---|---|
| More than a day and night, Pausanias, | 9 | ········· |
| Of this fair summer-weather, on these hills, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Would I bestow to help Empedocles. | 9 | ··˘/····· |
| That needs no thanks: one is far better here | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Than in the broiling city in these heats. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But tell me, how hast thou persuaded him | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| In this his present fierce, man-hating mood, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| To bring thee out with him alone on Etna? | 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.