Woodspring Abbey, 1836
These walls were built by men who did a deedOf blood:--terrific conscience, day by day,Followed, where'er their shadow seemed to stay,And still in thought they saw their victim bleed,Before God's altar shrieking: pangs succeed,As dire upon their heart the deep sin lay,No tears of agony could wash away:Hence! to the land's remotest limit, speed!These walls are raised in vain, as vainly flowsContrition's tear: Earth, hide them, and thou, Sea,Which round the lone isle, where their bones repose,Dost sound for ever, their sad requiem be,In fancy's ear, at pensive evening's close,Still murmuringb MISERERE, DOMINE.
Three mailed men, in Canterbury Cathedral, rushed on the Archbishopof Canterbury, and murdered him before the altar. Conscience-stricken,they fled and built Woodspring Abbey, in the remote corner ofSomersetshire, near Western Super Mare, where the land looks on theAtlantic sea. There are three unknown graves on the Flat Holms.
Words in this poem
- conscience n.
- Knowledge of one's own thoughts or actions; consciousness. [F. conscience, fr. L. conscientia, fr. consciens, p.pr. of conscire to know, to be conscious; con- + scire to know. See Science.]
- dire a.
- Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- requiem n.
- A mass said or sung for the repose of a departed soul. [Acc. of L. requies rest, the first words of the Mass being "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine," give eternal rest to them, O lord; pref. re- re + quies quiet. S]
- miserere n.
- The psalm usually appointed for penitential acts, being the 50th psalm in the Latin version. It commences with the word miserere. [L., have mercy, fr. misereri to have mercy, fr. miser. See Miser.]
- domine n.
- A name given to a pastor of the Reformed Church. The word is also applied locally in the United States, in colloquial speech, to any clergyman. [See Dominie.]
- mailed a.
- Protected by an external coat, or covering, of scales or plates.
- rushed a.
- Abounding or covered with rushes.
- stricken p. p.
- Struck; smitten; wounded; as, the stricken deer.
- super n.
- A contraction of Supernumerary, in sense 2. [Theatrical Cant]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Woodspring Abbey, 1836 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, Woodspring Abbey, 1836, in Sonnets, and Other Poems (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/woodspring-abbey-1836.html, id L09908.
Form and metre
Woodspring Abbey, 1836 is 19 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.6 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 26% 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG deedA · dayB · stayA · bleedB · succeedC · layD · awayC · speedD · flowsE · seaF · reposeE · beF · closeG · domineG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| These walls were built by men who did a deed | 10 | ·········· |
| Of blood:--terrific conscience, day by day, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Followed, where'er their shadow seemed to stay, | 11 | /˘˘˘/·/···· |
| And still in thought they saw their victim bleed, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Before God's altar shrieking: pangs succeed, | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| As dire upon their heart the deep sin lay, | 10 | ·········· |
| No tears of agony could wash away: | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Hence! to the land's remotest limit, speed! | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| These walls are raised in vain, as vainly flows | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Contrition's tear: Earth, hide them, and thou, Sea, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| Which round the lone isle, where their bones repose, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Dost sound for ever, their sad requiem be, | 10 | ···/··/˘˘· |
| In fancy's ear, at pensive evening's close, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Still murmuringb MISERERE, DOMINE. | 10 | ·······˘/˘ |
| Three mailed men, in Canterbury Cathedral, rushed on the Archbishop | 17 | ····/˘·˘˘/˘···//˘ |
| of Canterbury, and murdered him before the altar. Conscience-stricken, | 18 | ·/˘·˘·/˘····/˘/˘/˘ |
| they fled and built Woodspring Abbey, in the remote corner of | 15 | ······/˘··˘//˘· |
| Somersetshire, near Western Super Mare, where the land looks on the | 16 | ·····/˘/˘······· |
| Atlantic sea. There are three unknown graves on the Flat Holms. | 14 | ˘/˘····˘/····· |
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.