The Investigation
Whereon to ground those doubts but just exprest;--Doubts, which must interest the feeling breast:'Her Brother wert thou, George?--how; prithee say:Canst thou forego, or cast that name away?'
'No living proofs have I,' the Youth reply'd,That we by closest ties are not allied;But in my memory live, and ever will,A mother's dying words......I hear them still:She said, to one who watch'd her parting breath,"Don't separate the Children at my death;They're not both mine: but--" Here the scene was clos'd;She died, and left us helpless and expos'd;Nor Time hath thrown, nor Reason's opening power,One friendly ray on that benighted hour.'
Ne'er did the Chieftains of a Warring StateHear from the Oracle their half-told fateWith more religious fear, or more suspense,Than Phoebe now endur'd:--for every sense
Words in this poem
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- forego v. t.
- To quit; to relinquish; to leave. [See Forgo.]
- oracle v. i.
- To utter oracles.
- phoebe n.
- The pewee, or pewit.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Investigation is in the public domain. This text is taken from Rural Tales, Ballads, and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #9093; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bloomfield, The Investigation, in Rural Tales, Ballads and Songs (1802), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bloomfield-tales/the-investigation.html, id L09692.
Form and metre
The Investigation is 18 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% 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 AABB exprestA · breastA · sayB · awayB
- 2 --AABBCCDD reply'd · allied · willA · stillA · breathB · deathB · clos'dC · expos'dC · powerD · hourD
- 3 AABB stateA · fateA · suspenseB · senseB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whereon to ground those doubts but just exprest;-- | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Doubts, which must interest the feeling breast: | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| 'Her Brother wert thou, George?--how; prithee say: | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Canst thou forego, or cast that name away?' | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| 'No living proofs have I,' the Youth reply'd, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That we by closest ties are not allied; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| But in my memory live, and ever will, | 10 | ···/˘˘··/· |
| A mother's dying words......I hear them still: | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| She said, to one who watch'd her parting breath, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| "Don't separate the Children at my death; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| They're not both mine: but--" Here the scene was clos'd; | 10 | ·········· |
| She died, and left us helpless and expos'd; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Nor Time hath thrown, nor Reason's opening power, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘/ |
| One friendly ray on that benighted hour.' | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘ |
| Ne'er did the Chieftains of a Warring State | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Hear from the Oracle their half-told fate | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| With more religious fear, or more suspense, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Than Phoebe now endur'd:--for every sense | 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.