To the President of Magdalen College, Oxford
Since now from woodland mist and flooded clayI am fled beside the steep Devonian shore,Nor stand for welcome at your gothic door,'Neath the fair tower of Magdalen and May,Such tribute, Warren, as fond poets payFor generous esteem, I write, not moreEnhearten'd than my need is, reckoning o'erMy life-long wanderings on the heavenly way:
But well-befriended we become good friends,Well-honour'd honourable; and all attainSomewhat by fathering what fortune sends.I bid your presidency a long reign,True friend; and may your praise to greater endsAid better men than I, nor me in vain.
Words in this poem
- magdalen n.
- A reformed prostitute. [From Mary Magdalene, traditionally reported to have been the repentant sinner forgiven by Christ. See Luke vii. 36.]
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the President of Magdalen College, Oxford 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 the President of Magdalen College, Oxford, in Poetical Works (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/to-the-president-of-magdalen-college-oxford.html, id L01831.
Form and metre
To the President of Magdalen College, Oxford is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 43% 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 ABBAAB-A clayA · shoreB · doorB · mayA · payA · moreB · o'er · wayA
- 2 ABABAB friendsA · attainB · sendsA · reignB · endsA · vainB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Since now from woodland mist and flooded clay | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| I am fled beside the steep Devonian shore, | 11 | ···˘/··˘/˘· |
| Nor stand for welcome at your gothic door, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| 'Neath the fair tower of Magdalen and May, | 10 | ···/·/˘˘·· |
| Such tribute, Warren, as fond poets pay | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| For generous esteem, I write, not more | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/···· |
| Enhearten'd than my need is, reckoning o'er | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My life-long wanderings on the heavenly way: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But well-befriended we become good friends, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Well-honour'd honourable; and all attain | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| Somewhat by fathering what fortune sends. | 10 | //·/˘˘·/˘· |
| I bid your presidency a long reign, | 10 | ···/˘˘˘··· |
| True friend; and may your praise to greater ends | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Aid better men than I, nor me in vain. | 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.