Canto I LXXIX
Again he comes; nor dart nor lance avail,Nor the wild plunging of the tortured horse;Though man and man's avenging arms assail,Vain are his weapons, vainer is his force.One gallant steed is stretched a mangled corse;Another, hideous sight! unseamed appears,His gory chest unveils life's panting source;Though death-struck, still his feeble frame he rears;Staggering, but stemming all, his lord unharmed he bears.
Foiled, bleeding, breathless, furious to the last,Full in the centre stands the bull at bay,Mid wounds, and clinging darts, and lances brast,And foes disabled in the brutal fray:And now the matadores around him play,Shake the red cloak, and poise the ready brand:Once more through all he bursts his thundering way--Vain rage! the mantle quits the conynge hand,Wraps his fierce eye--'tis past--he sinks upon the sand.
Where his vast neck just mingles with the spine,Sheathed in his form the deadly weapon lies.He stops--he starts--disdaining to decline:Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries,Without a groan, without a struggle dies.The decorated car appears on high:The corse is piled--sweet sight for vulgar eyes;Four steeds that spurn the rein, as swift as shy,Hurl the dark bull along, scarce seen in dashing by.
Words in this poem
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- corse n.
- A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
- gory a.
- Covered with gore or clotted blood. [From Gore.]
- breathless a.
- Spent with labor or violent action; out of breath.
- centre v. i.
- To be placed in a center; to be central.
- thundering a.
- Emitting thunder.
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- spurn v. t.
- To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick. [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise,]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto I LXXIX is in the public domain. This text is taken from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Project Gutenberg ebook #5131; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, Canto I LXXIX, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-i-lxxix.html, id L06502.
Form and metre
Canto I LXXIX is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBCBCC, the Spenserian stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables.
See other poems in the Spenserian stanza, 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 ABABBCBCC availA · horseB · assailA · forceB · corseB · appearsC · sourceB · rearsC · bearsC
- 2 ABABBCBCC lastA · bayB · brastA · frayB · playB · brandC · wayB · handC · sandC
- 3 ABABBCBCC spineA · liesB · declineA · criesB · diesB · highC · eyesB · shyC · byC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Again he comes; nor dart nor lance avail, | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| Nor the wild plunging of the tortured horse; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Though man and man's avenging arms assail, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Vain are his weapons, vainer is his force. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| One gallant steed is stretched a mangled corse; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Another, hideous sight! unseamed appears, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| His gory chest unveils life's panting source; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Though death-struck, still his feeble frame he rears; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Staggering, but stemming all, his lord unharmed he bears. | 12 | /˘·/˘···˘/·· |
| Foiled, bleeding, breathless, furious to the last, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Full in the centre stands the bull at bay, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Mid wounds, and clinging darts, and lances brast, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And foes disabled in the brutal fray: | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And now the matadores around him play, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Shake the red cloak, and poise the ready brand: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Once more through all he bursts his thundering way-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Vain rage! the mantle quits the conynge hand, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Wraps his fierce eye--'tis past--he sinks upon the sand. | 12 | ············ |
| Where his vast neck just mingles with the spine, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Sheathed in his form the deadly weapon lies. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| He stops--he starts--disdaining to decline: | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Slowly he falls, amidst triumphant cries, | 10 | /˘··˘/˘/˘· |
| Without a groan, without a struggle dies. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The decorated car appears on high: | 10 | ·/˘·˘·˘/·· |
| The corse is piled--sweet sight for vulgar eyes; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Four steeds that spurn the rein, as swift as shy, | 10 | ·········· |
| Hurl the dark bull along, scarce seen in dashing by. | 12 | ····˘/···/˘· |
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.