Southampton Water
Smooth went our boat upon the summer seas,Leaving, for so it seemed, the world behind,Its sounds of mingled uproar: we, reclinedUpon the sunny deck, heard but the breezeThat o'er us whispering passed, or idly playedWith the lithe flag aloft. A woodland sceneOn either side drew its slope line of green,And hung the water's shining edge with shade.Above the woods, Netley! thy ruins palePeered as we passed; and Vecta's azure hueBeyond the misty castle met our view;Where in mid channel hung the scarce seen sail.So all was calm and sunshine as we wentCheerily o'er the briny element.Oh! were this little boat to us the world,As thus we wandered far from sounds of care,Circled by friends and gentle maidens fair,Whilst morning airs the waving pennant curled;How sweet were life's long voyage, till in peaceWe gained that haven still, where all things cease!
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- reclined a.
- Falling or turned downward; reclinate.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- lithe v. i.
- To listen or listen to; to hearken to. P. Plowman. [Icel Listen.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- 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.
- cheerily adv.
- In a cheery manner.
- briny a.
- Of or pertaining to brine, or to the sea; partaking of the nature of brine; salt; as, a briny taste; the briny flood. [From Brine.]
- circled a.
- Having the form of a circle; round.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Southampton Water 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, Southampton Water, in Sonnets, and Other Poems (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/southampton-water.html, id L09924.
Form and metre
Southampton Water is 20 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACDDCEFFEGGHIIHJJ. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 40% 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 ABBACDDCEFFEGGHIIHJJ seasA · behindB · reclinedB · breezeA · playedC · sceneD · greenD · shadeC · paleE · hueF · viewF · sailE · wentG · elementG · worldH · careI · fairI · curledH · peaceJ · ceaseJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Smooth went our boat upon the summer seas, | 10 | ··/····/˘· |
| Leaving, for so it seemed, the world behind, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Its sounds of mingled uproar: we, reclined | 10 | ···/˘/··˘/ |
| Upon the sunny deck, heard but the breeze | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That o'er us whispering passed, or idly played | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| With the lithe flag aloft. A woodland scene | 10 | ····˘/·/·· |
| On either side drew its slope line of green, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And hung the water's shining edge with shade. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Above the woods, Netley! thy ruins pale | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Peered as we passed; and Vecta's azure hue | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Beyond the misty castle met our view; | 10 | ···/˘/˘·/· |
| Where in mid channel hung the scarce seen sail. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| So all was calm and sunshine as we went | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Cheerily o'er the briny element. | 10 | /˘˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| Oh! were this little boat to us the world, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| As thus we wandered far from sounds of care, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Circled by friends and gentle maidens fair, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Whilst morning airs the waving pennant curled; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| How sweet were life's long voyage, till in peace | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| We gained that haven still, where all things cease! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
Notes from the edition 2
Bowles's own notes to his Poetical Works (Project Gutenberg #18915).
- Line 10 Isle of Wight.
- Line 11 Kelshot Castle.
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.