Wardour Castle
If rich designs of sumptuous art may please,Or Nature's loftier views, august and old,Stranger! behold this spreading scene;--beholdThis amphitheatre of aged trees,That solemn wave above thee, and aroundDarken the towering hills! Dost thou complainThat thou shouldst cope with penury or pain,Or sigh to think what pleasures might be foundAmid such wide possessions!--Pause awhile;Imagine thou dost see the sick man smile;See the pale exiles, that in yonder dome,Safe from the wasteful storm, have found a home;And thank the Giver of all good, that lentTo the humane, retired, beneficent,The power to bless. Nor lift thy heart elate,If such domains be thine; but emulateThe fair example, and those deeds, that riseLike holy incense wafted to the skies;Those deeds that shall sustain the conscious soul,When all this empty world hath perished, like a scroll!
Words in this poem
- amphitheatre n.
- An oval or circular building with rising tiers of seats about an open space called the arena. [L. amphitheatrum, fr. Gr. amphithé\'83tre. See Theater.]
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
- penury n.
- Absence of resources; want; privation; indigence; extreme poverty; destitution. [L. penuria; cf. Gr. pénurie.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- yonder adv.
- At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
- humane a.
- Pertaining to man; human. Jer. Taylor. [L. humanus: cf. F. humain. See Human.]
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Wardour Castle 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, Wardour Castle, in The Poetical Works, Volume I (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/wardour-castle.html, id L09939.
Form and metre
Wardour Castle is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 60% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 35% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBACDDCEEFFGGHHIIJJ pleaseA · oldB · beholdB · treesA · aroundC · complainD · painD · foundC · awhileE · smileE · domeF · homeF · lentG · beneficentG · elateH · emulateH · riseI · skiesI · soulJ · scrollJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If rich designs of sumptuous art may please, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Or Nature's loftier views, august and old, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Stranger! behold this spreading scene;--behold | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| This amphitheatre of aged trees, | 9 | ·/˘·˘˘··· |
| That solemn wave above thee, and around | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Darken the towering hills! Dost thou complain | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| That thou shouldst cope with penury or pain, | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| Or sigh to think what pleasures might be found | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Amid such wide possessions!--Pause awhile; | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Imagine thou dost see the sick man smile; | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| See the pale exiles, that in yonder dome, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Safe from the wasteful storm, have found a home; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And thank the Giver of all good, that lent | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To the humane, retired, beneficent, | 10 | ··˘/˘/·˘/˘ |
| The power to bless. Nor lift thy heart elate, | 10 | ·/······˘/ |
| If such domains be thine; but emulate | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| The fair example, and those deeds, that rise | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Like holy incense wafted to the skies; | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| Those deeds that shall sustain the conscious soul, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| When all this empty world hath perished, like a scroll! | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
Notes from the edition 1
Bowles's own notes to his Poetical Works (Project Gutenberg #18915).
- Line 12 French emigrants, chiefly supported by the bounty of Lord Arundel.
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.