The Air
Oh, cast every care to the wind,And dry, best beloved, the tear!Secure, that thou ever shalt find,The friend of thy bosom sincere.Still friendship shall live in the breast of the brave,And we'll love, the long day, where the forest-trees wave.
I have felt each emotion of bliss,That affection the fondest can prove,Have received on my lip the first kissOf thy holy and innocent love;But perish each hope of delight,Like the flashes of night on the sea,If ever, though far from thy sight,My soul is forgetful of thee!Still the memory shall live in the breast of the brave,How we loved, the long day, where the forest-trees wave.
Now bring my boy; may God aboveShower blessings on his head!May he requite his mother's love,And to her age a comfort prove,When I perhaps am dead!
The beams of morn on his helm did play,And aloud the bugle blew,Then he leaped on his harnessed steed of gray,And sighed to the winds as he gallopedf away,Adieu, my heart's love, adieu!
And now he has joined the warrior trainOf knights and barons bold,That, bound to Salem's holy plain,Across the gently-swelling main,Their course exulting hold.
With a cross of gold, as on they passed,The crimson streamers flew;The shields hung glittering round the mast,And on the waves a radiance cast,Whilst all the trumpets blew.
O'er the Severn-surge, in long array,So, the proud galleys went,Till soon, as dissolved in ether gray,The woods, and the shores, and the Holms steal away,And the long blue hills of Gwent.
This lyrical ballad is founded on a story connected with an oldWelsh melody. I have placed the circumstance in the time of theCrusades.
Words in this poem
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- 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,]
- forgetful a.
- Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
- 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.]
- aloud adv.
- With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- trumpets n.
- A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- lyrical a.
- Of or pertaining to a lyre or harp. [L. lyricus, Gr. lyrique. See Lyre.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Air 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, The Air, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/the-air.html, id L09982.
Form and metre
The Air is 44 lines in 8 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 5 of its 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 79%). 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 11% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABABCC windA · tearB · findA · sincereB · braveC · waveC
- 2 ABABCDCDEE blissA · proveB · kissA · loveB · delightC · seaD · sightC · theeD · braveE · waveE
- 3 ABAAB aboveA · headB · loveA · proveA · deadB
- 4 ABAAB playA · blewB · grayA · awayA · adieuB
- 5 ABAAB trainA · boldB · plainA · mainA · holdB
- 6 ABAAB passedA · flewB · mastA · castA · blewB
- 7 ABAAB arrayA · wentB · grayA · awayA · gwentB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, cast every care to the wind, | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| And dry, best beloved, the tear! | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Secure, that thou ever shalt find, | 8 | ˘/··/˘·· |
| The friend of thy bosom sincere. | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| Still friendship shall live in the breast of the brave, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| And we'll love, the long day, where the forest-trees wave. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| I have felt each emotion of bliss, | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| That affection the fondest can prove, | 9 | ·˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Have received on my lip the first kiss | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| Of thy holy and innocent love; | 9 | ··/˘·/˘˘· |
| But perish each hope of delight, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Like the flashes of night on the sea, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| If ever, though far from thy sight, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| My soul is forgetful of thee! | 8 | ···˘/˘·· |
| Still the memory shall live in the breast of the brave, | 12 | ··/˘········ |
| How we loved, the long day, where the forest-trees wave. | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| Now bring my boy; may God above | 8 | ········ |
| Shower blessings on his head! | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| May he requite his mother's love, | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| And to her age a comfort prove, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When I perhaps am dead! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| The beams of morn on his helm did play, | 9 | ········· |
| And aloud the bugle blew, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Then he leaped on his harnessed steed of gray, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And sighed to the winds as he gallopedf away, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| Adieu, my heart's love, adieu! | 7 | ˘/···˘/ |
| And now he has joined the warrior train | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Of knights and barons bold, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That, bound to Salem's holy plain, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Across the gently-swelling main, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Their course exulting hold. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| With a cross of gold, as on they passed, | 10 | ·········˘ |
| The crimson streamers flew; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The shields hung glittering round the mast, | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| And on the waves a radiance cast, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Whilst all the trumpets blew. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| O'er the Severn-surge, in long array, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| So, the proud galleys went, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Till soon, as dissolved in ether gray, | 10 | ···˘/˘·/˘· |
| The woods, and the shores, and the Holms steal away, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| And the long blue hills of Gwent. | 7 | ······· |
| This lyrical ballad is founded on a story connected with an old | 18 | ·/˘/˘·/˘··/˘˘/˘··· |
| Welsh melody. I have placed the circumstance in the time of the | 15 | ·/˘····/˘······ |
| Crusades. | 2 | ˘/ |
Notes from the edition 1
Bowles's own notes to his Poetical Works (Project Gutenberg #18915).
- Stanza 7, line 4 Islands in the Bristol Channel.
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.