On First Reading the Mysteries of Udolpho
Enchantress! whose transcendant pow'rs,With ease, the massy fabric raise;--Beneath whose sway the tempest low'rs,Or lucid stream meänd'ring plays;--
Accept the tribute of a heart,Which thou hast often made to glowWith transport, oft with terror start,Or sink at strains of solemn woe!
Invention, like a falcon, tam'dBy some expert and daring hand,For pride, for strength and fierceness fam'd,Implicit yields to thy command.Now mounts aloft in soaring flight,Shoots, like a star, beyond the sight;Or, in capricious windings borne,Mocks our faint hopes of safe return;Delights in trackless paths to roam,But hears thy call, and hurries home;Checks his bold wing when tow'ring free,And sails, without a pause, to thee!Enchantress, thy behests declare!And what thy strong delusions are!
When spirits in thy circle rise,Gaunt Wonder, panic-struck, and pale,Impatient Hope, and dread Surmise,Attendants on the mystic tale!
How is it, with such vivid hues,A harmonizing softness flows!What are the charms that can diffuse,Such grandeur as thy pencil throws!
Say! do the nymphs of classic lore,So simply graceful, light, and fair,Forsake their consecrated shore,Their hallow'd groves, and purer air?
Tir'd of the ancient Grecian loom,And smit with Fancy's wayward glance,Weave they amid the Gothic gloom,The high-wrought fiction of Romance?
While the dark Genius of our northern clime,Whose giant limbs the mist of years enshrouds,Bursts through the veil which hides his head sublime,And moves majestic through recoiling clouds!
O yes! they own the wond'rous spell,And to each form their hands divineGive, with nice art, the temper'd swell,The chasten'd touch and faultless line!
Each fiction under their command,Assumes an air severely true,And, every vision, wildly grand,Life's measur'd pace and modest hue.
Reason and fancy, rival powers!Unite, their RADCLIFFE to befriend;To decorate her way with flowers,The minor graces all attend!
Words in this poem
- enchantress n.
- A woman versed in magical arts; a sorceress; also, a woman who fascinates. [Cf. F. enchanteresse.]
- massy a.
- Compacted into, or consisting of, a mass; having bulk and weight ot substance; ponderous; bulky and heavy; weight; heavy; as, a massy shield; a massy rock.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- implicit a.
- Infolded; entangled; complicated; involved. [L. implicitus, p. p. of implicare to entwine, entangle, attach closely: cf. F. implicite. See Implicate.]
- trackless a.
- Having no track; marked by no footsteps; untrodden; as, a trackless desert.
- hurries n.
- A staith or framework from which coal is discharged from cars into vessels.
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- smit
- 3d. pers. sing. pres. of Smite.
- wayward a.
- Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- faultless a.
- Without fault; not defective or imperfect; free from blemish; free from incorrectness, vice, or offense; perfect; as, a faultless poem.
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On First Reading the Mysteries of Udolpho is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #9998; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matilda Betham, On First Reading the Mysteries of Udolpho, in Poems (1808), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9998, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/betham-poems/on-first-reading-the-mysteries-of-udolpho.html, id L23509.
Form and metre
On First Reading the Mysteries of Udolpho is 54 lines in 11 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB pow'rsA · raiseB · low'rsA · playsB
- 2 ABAB heartA · glowB · startA · woeB
- 3 ABABCC--DDEE-- tam'dA · handB · fam'dA · commandB · flightC · sightC · borne · return · roamD · homeD · freeE · theeE · declare · are
- 4 ABAB riseA · paleB · surmiseA · taleB
- 5 ABAB huesA · flowsB · diffuseA · throwsB
- 6 ABAB loreA · fairB · shoreA · airB
- 7 ABAB loomA · glanceB · gloomA · romanceB
- 8 ABAB climeA · enshroudsB · sublimeA · cloudsB
- 9 ABAB spellA · divineB · swellA · lineB
- 10 ABAB commandA · trueB · grandA · hueB
- 11 ABAB powersA · befriendB · flowersA · attendB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Enchantress! whose transcendant pow'rs, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| With ease, the massy fabric raise;-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Beneath whose sway the tempest low'rs, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Or lucid stream meänd'ring plays;-- | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Accept the tribute of a heart, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Which thou hast often made to glow | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With transport, oft with terror start, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Or sink at strains of solemn woe! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Invention, like a falcon, tam'd | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| By some expert and daring hand, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| For pride, for strength and fierceness fam'd, | 9 | ········· |
| Implicit yields to thy command. | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Now mounts aloft in soaring flight, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Shoots, like a star, beyond the sight; | 8 | ········ |
| Or, in capricious windings borne, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Mocks our faint hopes of safe return; | 8 | ·/····˘/ |
| Delights in trackless paths to roam, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| But hears thy call, and hurries home; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Checks his bold wing when tow'ring free, | 8 | ········ |
| And sails, without a pause, to thee! | 8 | ········ |
| Enchantress, thy behests declare! | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘/ |
| And what thy strong delusions are! | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| When spirits in thy circle rise, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Gaunt Wonder, panic-struck, and pale, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Impatient Hope, and dread Surmise, | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| Attendants on the mystic tale! | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| How is it, with such vivid hues, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A harmonizing softness flows! | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| What are the charms that can diffuse, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Such grandeur as thy pencil throws! | 8 | ·˘/··/˘· |
| Say! do the nymphs of classic lore, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So simply graceful, light, and fair, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Forsake their consecrated shore, | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘· |
| Their hallow'd groves, and purer air? | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Tir'd of the ancient Grecian loom, | 8 | /··/˘/˘· |
| And smit with Fancy's wayward glance, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Weave they amid the Gothic gloom, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The high-wrought fiction of Romance? | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| While the dark Genius of our northern clime, | 10 | ···/˘·//˘· |
| Whose giant limbs the mist of years enshrouds, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Bursts through the veil which hides his head sublime, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And moves majestic through recoiling clouds! | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| O yes! they own the wond'rous spell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And to each form their hands divine | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Give, with nice art, the temper'd swell, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The chasten'd touch and faultless line! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Each fiction under their command, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Assumes an air severely true, | 8 | ˘/··˘/˘· |
| And, every vision, wildly grand, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Life's measur'd pace and modest hue. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Reason and fancy, rival powers! | 9 | /˘·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Unite, their RADCLIFFE to befriend; | 8 | /··/˘·˘/ |
| To decorate her way with flowers, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| The minor graces all attend! | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
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.