Canto Eighth
Indian festival for victory--Old Warrior brought in wounded--Recognises his long-lost son, and dies--Discovery--Conclusionwith the Old Warrior's funeral, and prophetic oration by theMissionary.
The morn returns, and, reddening, seems to shedOne ray of glory on the patriot-dead.Round the dark stone, the victor-chiefs behold!Still on their locks the gouts of gore hang cold!There stands the brave Caupolican, the prideOf Chili, young Lautaro, by his side!Near the grim circle, pendent from the wood,Twelve hundred Spanish heads are dripping blood.Shrill sound the notes of death: in festive dance,The Indian maids with myrtle boughs advance;The tinkling sea-shells on their ancles ring,As, hailing thus the victor-youth, they sing:--
Words in this poem
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto Eighth is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan, Project Gutenberg ebook #18915; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Lisle Bowles, Canto Eighth, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/canto-eighth.html, id L10013.
Form and metre
Canto Eighth is 16 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 76%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.6 syllables. 3 lines end 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.
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.
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFF shedA · deadA · beholdB · coldB · prideC · sideC · woodD · bloodD · danceE · advanceE · ringF · singF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Indian festival for victory--Old Warrior brought in wounded-- | 14 | /˘/˘·/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| Recognises his long-lost son, and dies--Discovery--Conclusion | 16 | /˘·˘·······/˘˘/˘ |
| with the Old Warrior's funeral, and prophetic oration by the | 16 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘˘/˘·· |
| Missionary. | 4 | /˘·˘ |
| The morn returns, and, reddening, seems to shed | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| One ray of glory on the patriot-dead. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Round the dark stone, the victor-chiefs behold! | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Still on their locks the gouts of gore hang cold! | 10 | ·········· |
| There stands the brave Caupolican, the pride | 10 | ·········· |
| Of Chili, young Lautaro, by his side! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Near the grim circle, pendent from the wood, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Twelve hundred Spanish heads are dripping blood. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Shrill sound the notes of death: in festive dance, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The Indian maids with myrtle boughs advance; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| The tinkling sea-shells on their ancles ring, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| As, hailing thus the victor-youth, they sing:-- | 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.