Book IV: Metre I
For I have swift and nimble wings which will ascend the lofty skies,With which when thy quick mind is clad, it will the loathéd earthdespise,And go beyond the airy globe, and watery clouds behind thee leave,Passing the fire which scorching heat doth from the heavens' swiftcourse receive,Until it reach the starry house, and get to tread bright Phoebus' ways,Following the chilly sire's path, companion of his flashing rays,And trace the circle of the stars which in the night to us appear,And having stayed there long enough go on beyond the farthest sphere,Sitting upon the highest orb partaker of the glorious light,Where the great King his sceptre holds, and the world's reins doth guidearight,And, firm in his swift chariot, doth everything in order set.Unto this seat when thou art brought, thy country, which thou didstforget,Thou then wilt challenge to thyself, saying: 'This is the glorious landWhere I was born, and in this soil my feet for evermore shall stand.Whence if thou pleasest to behold the earthly night which thou hastleft,Those tyrants which the people fear will seem of their true homebereft.'"
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- loath a.
- Hateful; odious; disliked. [OE. looth, loth, AS. la hostile, odious; akin to OS. l, G. leid, Icel. lei, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. lidan to suffer, go, cf. AS. li to go, Goth. leip]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- sceptre n.
- A staff or baton borne by a sovereign, as a ceremonial badge or emblem of authority; a royal mace. [F. sceptre, L. sceptrum, from Gr. shaft. See Shaft, and cf. Scape a stem, shaft.]
- aright adv.
- Rightly; correctly; in a right way or form; without mistake or crime; as, to worship God aright. [Pref. a- + right.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: Metre I is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Consolation of Philosophy, Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, the I.T. (1609), rev. H. F. Stewart translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Boethius, Book IV: Metre I, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-iv-metre-i.html, id L26403.
Form and metre
Book IV: Metre I is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
See other poems in iambic octameter.
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 A-AB-BCCDDE-EF-FGG-H-H skiesA · earth · despiseA · leaveB · swift · receiveB · waysC · raysC · appearD · sphereD · lightE · guide · arightE · setF · didst · forgetF · landG · standG · hast · leftH · home · bereftH
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 octameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| For I have swift and nimble wings which will ascend the lofty skies, | 16 | ·····/˘···˘/·/˘· |
| With which when thy quick mind is clad, it will the loathéd earth | 13 | ············· |
| despise, | 2 | ˘/ |
| And go beyond the airy globe, and watery clouds behind thee leave, | 16 | ·····/˘··/˘····· |
| Passing the fire which scorching heat doth from the heavens' swift | 14 | /˘·/·/˘····/˘· |
| course receive, | 3 | ·˘/ |
| Until it reach the starry house, and get to tread bright Phoebus' ways, | 16 | ·····/˘······/˘· |
| Following the chilly sire's path, companion of his flashing rays, | 15 | /˘·/˘··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And trace the circle of the stars which in the night to us appear, | 16 | ···/˘·········˘/ |
| And having stayed there long enough go on beyond the farthest sphere, | 16 | ·/˘···˘/·····/˘· |
| Sitting upon the highest orb partaker of the glorious light, | 16 | /˘···/˘·˘/˘··/˘· |
| Where the great King his sceptre holds, and the world's reins doth guide | 14 | ·····/˘······· |
| aright, | 2 | ˘/ |
| And, firm in his swift chariot, doth everything in order set. | 15 | ·····/˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Unto this seat when thou art brought, thy country, which thou didst | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| forget, | 2 | ˘/ |
| Thou then wilt challenge to thyself, saying: 'This is the glorious land | 16 | ···/˘·˘//˘···/˘· |
| Where I was born, and in this soil my feet for evermore shall stand. | 16 | ···········/˘··· |
| Whence if thou pleasest to behold the earthly night which thou hast | 15 | ···/˘·˘/·/˘···· |
| left, | 1 | · |
| Those tyrants which the people fear will seem of their true home | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| bereft.'" | 2 | ˘/ |
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.