July 1786
Fountain, that sparklest through the shady place,Making a soft, sad murmur o'er the stonesThat strew thy lucid way! Oh, if some guestShould haply wander near, with slow diseaseSmitten, may thy cold springs the rose of healthBring back, and the quick lustre to his eye!The ancient oaks that on thy margin wave,The song of birds, and through the rocky caveThe clear stream gushing, their according soundsShould mingle, and, like some strange music, stealSadly, yet soothing, o'er his aching breast.And thou, pale exile from thy native shores,Here drink,--oh, couldst thou!--as of Lethe's stream!Nor friends, nor bleeding country, nor the viewsOf hills or streams beloved, nor vesper bell,Heard in the twilight vale, remember more!
MOLE, 1797.
Oh, hadst thou fall'n, brave youth! on that proud day,When our victorious fleet o'er the red surgeRolled in terrific glory, thou hadst fall'nMost honoured; and Remembrance, while she thoughtUpon thy gallant end, had dried her tear!Now far beyond the huge Atlantic waveThy bones decay; the withering pestilence,That swept the islands of the western world,Smote thee, untimely drooping to the tomb!But 'tis enough; whate'er a soldier's fate,That firm he hied him, where stern honour bade;Though with unequal strength, he sunk and died.
Words in this poem
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- vesper n.
- The evening star; Hesper; Venus, when seen after sunset; hence, the evening. [L., the evening, the evening star, the west; akin to Gr. west. Cf. Hesperian, Vespers.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- withering a.
- Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
July 1786 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, July 1786, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/july-1786.html, id L09941.
Form and metre
July 1786 is 29 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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---BB--A----- place · stones · guestA · disease · health · eye · waveB · caveB · sounds · steal · breastA · shores · stream · views · bell · more
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fountain, that sparklest through the shady place, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Making a soft, sad murmur o'er the stones | 10 | /˘···/˘··· |
| That strew thy lucid way! Oh, if some guest | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Should haply wander near, with slow disease | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Smitten, may thy cold springs the rose of health | 10 | /˘········ |
| Bring back, and the quick lustre to his eye! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The ancient oaks that on thy margin wave, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The song of birds, and through the rocky cave | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The clear stream gushing, their according sounds | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Should mingle, and, like some strange music, steal | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Sadly, yet soothing, o'er his aching breast. | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| And thou, pale exile from thy native shores, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Here drink,--oh, couldst thou!--as of Lethe's stream! | 9 | ········· |
| Nor friends, nor bleeding country, nor the views | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Of hills or streams beloved, nor vesper bell, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Heard in the twilight vale, remember more! | 10 | ···/··˘/˘· |
| MOLE, 1797. | 1 | · |
| Oh, hadst thou fall'n, brave youth! on that proud day, | 10 | ·········· |
| When our victorious fleet o'er the red surge | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Rolled in terrific glory, thou hadst fall'n | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Most honoured; and Remembrance, while she thought | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Upon thy gallant end, had dried her tear! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Now far beyond the huge Atlantic wave | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Thy bones decay; the withering pestilence, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| That swept the islands of the western world, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Smote thee, untimely drooping to the tomb! | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| But 'tis enough; whate'er a soldier's fate, | 11 | ··˘/˘˘/·/˘· |
| That firm he hied him, where stern honour bade; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Though with unequal strength, he sunk and died. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 2
Bowles's own notes to his Poetical Works (Project Gutenberg #18915).
- Stanza 1, line 12 French priests, who have a residence near.
- Stanza 3, line 1 The 1st of June 1794, when Colonel Isaac greatly distinguished himself as commander of the military on board Lord Howe's ship.
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