The Massacre at Scio
Weep not for Scio's children slain;Their blood, by Turkish falchions shed,Sends not its cry to Heaven in vainFor vengeance on the murderer's head.
Though high the warm red torrent ranBetween the flames that lit the sky,Yet, for each drop, an armed manShall rise, to free the land, or die.
And for each corpse, that in the seaWas thrown, to feast the scaly herds,A hundred of the foe shall beA banquet for the mountain birds.
Stern rites and sad, shall Greece ordainTo keep that day, along her shore,Till the last link of slavery's chainIs shivered, to be worn no more.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- corpse n.
- A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Massacre at Scio is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems by William Cullen Bryant, Project Gutenberg ebook #16341; 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 Cullen Bryant, The Massacre at Scio, in Poems (1821–1876), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #16341, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bryant-poems/the-massacre-at-scio.html, id L07261.
Form and metre
The Massacre at Scio is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 44% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 ABAB slainA · shedB · vainA · headB
- 2 ABAB ranA · skyB · manA · dieB
- 3 ABAB seaA · herdsB · beA · birdsB
- 4 ABAB ordainA · shoreB · chainA · moreB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Weep not for Scio's children slain; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Their blood, by Turkish falchions shed, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sends not its cry to Heaven in vain | 8 | ·····/·· |
| For vengeance on the murderer's head. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though high the warm red torrent ran | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Between the flames that lit the sky, | 8 | ········ |
| Yet, for each drop, an armed man | 8 | ······˘· |
| Shall rise, to free the land, or die. | 8 | ········ |
| And for each corpse, that in the sea | 8 | ········ |
| Was thrown, to feast the scaly herds, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A hundred of the foe shall be | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A banquet for the mountain birds. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Stern rites and sad, shall Greece ordain | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To keep that day, along her shore, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Till the last link of slavery's chain | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Is shivered, to be worn no more. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
On this poem
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.