To Joseph Joachim
Belov'd of all to whom that Muse is dearWho hid her spirit of rapture from the Greek,Whereby our art excelleth the antique,Perfecting formal beauty to the ear;Thou that hast been in England many a yearThe interpreter who left us nought to seek,Making Beethoven's inmost passion speak,Bringing the soul of great Sebastian near:
Their music liveth ever, and 'tis justThat thou, good Joachim, so high thy skill,Rank (as thou shalt upon the heavenly hill)Laurel'd with them, for thy ennobling trustRemember'd when thy loving hand is stillAnd every ear that heard thee stopt with dust.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Joseph Joachim is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Excluding the Eight Dramas, Project Gutenberg ebook #37804; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bridges, To Joseph Joachim, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/to-joseph-joachim.html, id L01832.
Form and metre
To Joseph Joachim is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 36% 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 ABBAABBA dearA · greekB · antiqueB · earA · yearA · seekB · speakB · nearA
- 2 ABBABA justA · skillB · hillB · trustA · stillB · dustA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Belov'd of all to whom that Muse is dear | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Who hid her spirit of rapture from the Greek, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Whereby our art excelleth the antique, | 10 | ··/·˘/˘·˘/ |
| Perfecting formal beauty to the ear; | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Thou that hast been in England many a year | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| The interpreter who left us nought to seek, | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| Making Beethoven's inmost passion speak, | 10 | /˘/˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Bringing the soul of great Sebastian near: | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| Their music liveth ever, and 'tis just | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| That thou, good Joachim, so high thy skill, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Rank (as thou shalt upon the heavenly hill) | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Laurel'd with them, for thy ennobling trust | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Remember'd when thy loving hand is still | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| And every ear that heard thee stopt with dust. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
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.