The Tempest
One Summer's night, (the hour of rest was come)Darkness unusual overspread their home;A chilling blast was felt; the foremost cloudSprinkl'd the bubbling Pool; and thunder loud,Though distant yet, menac'd the country round,And fill'd the Heavens with its solemn sound.Who can retire to rest when tempests lour?Nor wait the issue of the coming hour?Meekly resign'd she sat, in anxious pain;He fill'd his pipe, and listen'd to the rainThat batter'd furiously their strong abode,Roar'd in the Damm, and lash'd the pebbled road:When, mingling with the storm, confus'd and wild,They heard, or thought they heard, a screaming Child:The voice approach'd; and midst the thunder's roar,Now loudly begg'd for Mercy at the door.
MERCY was there: the Miller heard the call;His door he open'd; when a sudden squall
Words in this poem
- lour n.
- An Asiatic sardine (Clupea Neohowii), valued for its oil. [Native name.]
- meekly adv.
- In a meek manner.
- abode n.
- Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
- damm n.
- A female parent; -- used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother. [OE. dame mistress, lady; also, mother, dam. See Dame.]
- pebbled a.
- Abounding in pebbles. Thomson.
- screaming a.
- Uttering screams; shrieking.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Tempest 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 Tempest, in Rural Tales, Ballads and Songs (1802), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bloomfield-tales/the-tempest.html, id L09685.
Form and metre
The Tempest is 18 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH comeA · homeA · cloudB · loudB · roundC · soundC · lourD · hourD · painE · rainE · abodeF · roadF · wildG · childG · roarH · doorH
- 2 AA callA · squallA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One Summer's night, (the hour of rest was come) | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Darkness unusual overspread their home; | 10 | /˘˘/˘····· |
| A chilling blast was felt; the foremost cloud | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| Sprinkl'd the bubbling Pool; and thunder loud, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Though distant yet, menac'd the country round, | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| And fill'd the Heavens with its solemn sound. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Who can retire to rest when tempests lour? | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Nor wait the issue of the coming hour? | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Meekly resign'd she sat, in anxious pain; | 10 | /˘˘/···/˘· |
| He fill'd his pipe, and listen'd to the rain | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That batter'd furiously their strong abode, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| Roar'd in the Damm, and lash'd the pebbled road: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When, mingling with the storm, confus'd and wild, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| They heard, or thought they heard, a screaming Child: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The voice approach'd; and midst the thunder's roar, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Now loudly begg'd for Mercy at the door. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| MERCY was there: the Miller heard the call; | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| His door he open'd; when a sudden squall | 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.