The Harp, and Despair, of Cowper
Sweet bard, whose tones great Milton might approve,And Shakspeare, from high Fancy's sphere,Turning to the sound his ear,Bend down a look of sympathy and love;Oh, swell the lyre again,As if in full accord it poured an angel's strain!But oh! what means that look aghast,Ev'n whilst it seemed in holy trance,On scenes of bliss above to glance!Was it a fiend of darkness passed!Oh, speak--Paleness is upon his cheek--On his brow the big drops stand,To airy vacancyPoints the dread silence of his eye,And the loved lyre it falls, falls from his nerveless hand!Come, peace of mind, delightful guest!Oh, come, and make thy downy nestOnce more on his sad heart!Meek Faith, a drop of comfort shed;Sweet Hope, support his aged head;And Charity, avert the burning dart!Fruitless the prayer--the night of deeper woesSeems o'er the head even now to close;In vain the path of purity he trod,In vain, in vain,He poured from Fancy's shell his sweetest hermit strain--He has no hope on earth: forsake him not, O God!
Words in this poem
- vacancy n.
- The quality or state of being vacant; emptiness; hence, freedom from employment; intermission; leisure; idleness; listlessness. [Cf. F. vacance.]
- nerveless a.
- Destitute of nerves.
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Harp, and Despair, of Cowper 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 Harp, and Despair, of Cowper, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/the-harp-and-despair-of-cowper.html, id L09955.
Form and metre
The Harp, and Despair, of Cowper is 28 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 2 lines end 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 ABBACCDEEDFFG--GHHIJJIKKLCCL approveA · sphereB · earB · loveA · againC · strainC · aghastD · tranceE · glanceE · passedD · speakF · cheekF · standG · vacancy · eye · handG · guestH · nestH · heartI · shedJ · headJ · dartI · woesK · closeK · trodL · vainC · strainC · godL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet bard, whose tones great Milton might approve, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And Shakspeare, from high Fancy's sphere, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Turning to the sound his ear, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Bend down a look of sympathy and love; | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Oh, swell the lyre again, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| As if in full accord it poured an angel's strain! | 12 | ····˘/···/˘· |
| But oh! what means that look aghast, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ev'n whilst it seemed in holy trance, | 9 | ····˘·/˘· |
| On scenes of bliss above to glance! | 8 | ········ |
| Was it a fiend of darkness passed! | 9 | ·····/˘·˘ |
| Oh, speak-- | 2 | ·· |
| Paleness is upon his cheek-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| On his brow the big drops stand, | 7 | ······· |
| To airy vacancy | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Points the dread silence of his eye, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the loved lyre it falls, falls from his nerveless hand! | 12 | ·········/˘· |
| Come, peace of mind, delightful guest! | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Oh, come, and make thy downy nest | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Once more on his sad heart! | 6 | ······ |
| Meek Faith, a drop of comfort shed; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sweet Hope, support his aged head; | 7 | ··˘/··· |
| And Charity, avert the burning dart! | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/·/˘· |
| Fruitless the prayer--the night of deeper woes | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| Seems o'er the head even now to close; | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| In vain the path of purity he trod, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| In vain, in vain, | 4 | ···· |
| He poured from Fancy's shell his sweetest hermit strain-- | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
| He has no hope on earth: forsake him not, O God! | 12 | ······˘/···· |
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.