On a Beautiful Landscape
Beautiful landscape! I could look on theeFor hours, unmindful of the storm and strife,And mingled murmurs of tumultuous life.Here, all is still as fair; the stream, the tree,The wood, the sunshine on the bank: no tear,No thought of Time's swift wing, or closing night,That comes to steal away the long sweet light--No sighs of sad humanity are here.Here is no tint of mortal change; the day,--Beneath whose light the dog and peasant-boyGambol, with look, and almost bark, of joy,--Still seems, though centuries have passed, to stay.Then gaze again, that shadowed scenes may teachLessons of peace and love, beyond all speech.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- gambol n.
- A skipping or leaping about in frolic; a hop; a sportive prank. [OE. gambolde, gambaulde, F. gambade, gambol, fr. It. gambata kick, fr. L. gamba leg, akin to F. jambe, OF. also, gambe, fr. L. gamba, hoof or perh. joint: cf. G]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On a Beautiful Landscape 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, On a Beautiful Landscape, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/on-a-beautiful-landscape.html, id L09910.
Form and metre
On a Beautiful Landscape is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 21% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG theeA · strifeB · lifeA · treeB · tearC · nightD · lightC · hereD · dayE · boyF · joyE · stayF · teachG · speechG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Beautiful landscape! I could look on thee | 10 | /˘˘/······ |
| For hours, unmindful of the storm and strife, | 10 | ·/········ |
| And mingled murmurs of tumultuous life. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Here, all is still as fair; the stream, the tree, | 10 | ·········· |
| The wood, the sunshine on the bank: no tear, | 10 | ···/······ |
| No thought of Time's swift wing, or closing night, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That comes to steal away the long sweet light-- | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| No sighs of sad humanity are here. | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Here is no tint of mortal change; the day,-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Beneath whose light the dog and peasant-boy | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Gambol, with look, and almost bark, of joy,-- | 10 | /˘···/···· |
| Still seems, though centuries have passed, to stay. | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Then gaze again, that shadowed scenes may teach | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Lessons of peace and love, beyond all speech. | 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.