Canto I XIX
But whoso entereth within this town,That, sheening far, celestial seems to be,Disconsolate will wander up and down,Mid many things unsightly to strange e'e;For hut and palace show like filthily;The dingy denizens are reared in dirt;No personage of high or mean degreeDoth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt,Though shent with Egypt's plague, unkempt, unwashed, unhurt.
Poor, paltry slaves! yet born midst noblest scenes--Why, Nature, waste thy wonders on such men?Lo! Cintra's glorious Eden intervenesIn variegated maze of mount and glen.Ah me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen,To follow half on which the eye dilatesThrough views more dazzling unto mortal kenThan those whereof such things the bard relates,Who to the awe-struck world unlocked Elysium's gates?
The horrid crags, by toppling convent crowned,The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep,The mountain moss by scorching skies imbrowned,The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep,The tender azure of the unruffled deep,The orange tints that gild the greenest bough,The torrents that from cliff to valley leap,The vine on high, the willow branch below,Mixed in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow.
Words in this poem 17
- whoso pron.
- Whosoever. Piers Plowman.
- disconsolate n.
- Disconsolateness. Barrow.
- filthily adv.
- In a filthy manner; foully.
- cleanness n.
- The state or quality of being clean. [AS. cl. See Clean.]
- surtout n.
- A man's coat to be worn over his other garments; an overcoat, especially when long, and fitting closely like a body coat. Gay. [F., fr. sur over + tout all.]
- shent
- obs. 3d pers. sing. pres. of Shend, for shendeth.
- unkempt a.
- Not combed; disheveled; as, an urchin with unkempt hair. [Pref. un- not + kempt, p. p. of kemb.]
- unwashed a.
- Not washed or cleansed; filthy; unclean.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- eden n.
- The garden where Adam and Eve first dwelt; hence, a delightful region or residence. [Heb. eden delight, pleasure; also, a place of pleasure, Eden.]
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- hoar v. t.
- To become moldy or musty. [AS. harian to grow gray.]
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
- sunless a.
- Destitute or deprived of the sun or its rays; shaded; shadowed.
- unruffled a.
- Not ruffled or agitated; smooth; calm; tranquil; quiet. [Pref. un- not + ruffled.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto I XIX 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 XIX, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-i-xix.html, id L06482.
Form and metre
Canto I XIX 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%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 townA · beB · downA · e'eB · filthilyB · dirtC · degreeB · shirtC · unhurtC
- 2 ABABBCBCC scenesA · menB · intervenesA · glenB · penB · dilatesC · kenB · relatesC · gatesC
- 3 ABABBCBCC crownedA · steepB · imbrownedA · weepB · deepB · boughC · leapB · belowC · glowC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| But whoso entereth within this town, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| That, sheening far, celestial seems to be, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Disconsolate will wander up and down, | 10 | ˘/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Mid many things unsightly to strange e'e; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| For hut and palace show like filthily; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| The dingy denizens are reared in dirt; | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| No personage of high or mean degree | 10 | ·/˘˘····˘/ |
| Doth care for cleanness of surtout or shirt, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Though shent with Egypt's plague, unkempt, unwashed, unhurt. | 12 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘/ |
| Poor, paltry slaves! yet born midst noblest scenes-- | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Why, Nature, waste thy wonders on such men? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Lo! Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| In variegated maze of mount and glen. | 10 | ·/˘˘˘····· |
| Ah me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To follow half on which the eye dilates | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Through views more dazzling unto mortal ken | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Than those whereof such things the bard relates, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Who to the awe-struck world unlocked Elysium's gates? | 12 | ······˘/˘/˘· |
| The horrid crags, by toppling convent crowned, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| The cork-trees hoar that clothe the shaggy steep, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The mountain moss by scorching skies imbrowned, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The sunken glen, whose sunless shrubs must weep, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The tender azure of the unruffled deep, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··˘/˘· |
| The orange tints that gild the greenest bough, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The torrents that from cliff to valley leap, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The vine on high, the willow branch below, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Mixed in one mighty scene, with varied beauty glow. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘/˘· |
Notes from the edition 2
E. H. Coleridge's notes to Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, The Works of Lord Byron, Poetry vol. II (John Murray, 1899; Project Gutenberg #25340). Bracketed passages are the editor's; unbracketed are Byron's own (Cantos I-III) or John Cam Hobhouse's (Canto IV, his 'Historical Notes'). Digit footnotes ('[17]') are informational and numbered continuously through the whole book; end-notes keyed '[n.B.]' (Byron) or '[n.H.]' (Hobhouse) follow each canto and are numbered afresh from 1 there. Both kinds are placed here by matching each note's own quoted words against the site's text, not by the number or stanza the note states, because the site's text (Gutenberg #5131) and this edition (#25340) are different editions with different stanza counts in Canto I. Lettered footnotes ('[h]', '[dn]') are manuscript and edition variant readings and are not harvested, matching the treatment of Don Juan's and byron-works-3's lettered notes.
- Stanza 2, line 3 [For a fuller description of Cintra, see letter to Mrs. Byron, dated August 11, 1808 (Life, p. 92; Letters, 1898, i. 237). Southey, not often in accord with Byron, on his return from Spain (1801) testified that "for beauty all English, perhaps all existing, scenery must yield to Cintra" (Life and Corr. of R. Southey, ii. 161).]
- Stanza 3, line 5 "The sky-worn robes of tenderest blue." Collins' Ode to Pity [MS. and D.].
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