Stanzas
Well, some may hate, and some may scorn,And some may quite forget thy name;But my sad heart must ever mournThy ruined hopes, thy blighted fame!'Twas thus I thought, an hour ago,Even weeping o'er that wretch's woe;One word turned back my gushing tears,And lit my altered eye with sneers.Then "Bless the friendly dust," I said,"That hides thy unlamented head!Vain as thou wert, and weak as vain,The slave of Falsehood, Pride, and Pain--My heart has nought akin to thine;Thy soul is powerless over mine."But these were thoughts that vanished too;Unwise, unholy, and untrue:Do I despise the timid deer,Because his limbs are fleet with fear?Or, would I mock the wolf's death-howl,Because his form is gaunt and foul?Or, hear with joy the leveret's cry,Because it cannot bravely die?No! Then above his memoryLet Pity's heart as tender be;Say, "Earth, lie lightly on that breast,And, kind Heaven, grant that spirit rest!"
Words in this poem
- unholy a.
- Not holy; unhallowed; not consecrated; hence, profane; wicked; impious.
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- gaunt a.
- Attenuated, as with fasting or suffering; lean; meager; pinched and grim. [Cf. Norw. gand a thin pointed stick, a tall and thin man, and W. gwan weak.]
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, Project Gutenberg ebook #1019; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, Stanzas, in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (1846), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1019, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bronte-poems/stanzas-2.html, id L13246.
Form and metre
Stanzas is 26 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 ABABCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK-KLL scornA · nameB · mournA · fameB · agoC · woeC · tearsD · sneersD · saidE · headE · vainF · painF · thineG · mineG · tooH · untrueH · deerI · fearI · howlJ · foulJ · cryK · dieK · memory · beK · breastL · restL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Well, some may hate, and some may scorn, | 8 | ········ |
| And some may quite forget thy name; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But my sad heart must ever mourn | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy ruined hopes, thy blighted fame! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| 'Twas thus I thought, an hour ago, | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Even weeping o'er that wretch's woe; | 8 | /˘/˘···· |
| One word turned back my gushing tears, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And lit my altered eye with sneers. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then "Bless the friendly dust," I said, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "That hides thy unlamented head! | 8 | ········ |
| Vain as thou wert, and weak as vain, | 8 | ········ |
| The slave of Falsehood, Pride, and Pain-- | 8 | ···/···· |
| My heart has nought akin to thine; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Thy soul is powerless over mine." | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| But these were thoughts that vanished too; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Unwise, unholy, and untrue: | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Do I despise the timid deer, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Because his limbs are fleet with fear? | 8 | ········ |
| Or, would I mock the wolf's death-howl, | 8 | ········ |
| Because his form is gaunt and foul? | 8 | ········ |
| Or, hear with joy the leveret's cry, | 9 | ········· |
| Because it cannot bravely die? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| No! Then above his memory | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Let Pity's heart as tender be; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Say, "Earth, lie lightly on that breast, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, kind Heaven, grant that spirit rest!" | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
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.