Canto I XL
Hark! heard you not those hoofs of dreadful note?Sounds not the clang of conflict on the heath?Saw ye not whom the reeking sabre smote;Nor saved your brethren ere they sank beneathTyrants and tyrants' slaves?--the fires of death,The bale-fires flash on high:--from rock to rockEach volley tells that thousands cease to breathe:Death rides upon the sulphury Siroc,Red Battle stamps his foot, and nations feel the shock.
Lo! where the Giant on the mountain stands,His blood-red tresses deepening in the sun,With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands,And eye that scorcheth all it glares upon;Restless it rolls, now fixed, and now anonFlashing afar,--and at his iron feetDestruction cowers, to mark what deeds are done;For on this morn three potent nations meet,To shed before his shrine the blood he deems most sweet.
By Heaven! it is a splendid sight to see(For one who hath no friend, no brother there)Their rival scarfs of mixed embroidery,Their various arms that glitter in the air!What gallant war-hounds rouse them from their lair,And gnash their fangs, loud yelling for the prey!All join the chase, but few the triumph share:The Grave shall bear the chiefest prize away,And Havoc scarce for joy can cumber their array.
Words in this poem
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- sabre n.
- A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword. Saber fish, or Sabre fish (Zoöl.), the cutlass fish.
- sulphury a.
- Resembling, or partaking of the nature of, sulphur; having the qualities of sulphur.
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- gnash v. t.
- To strike together, as in anger or pain; as, to gnash the teeth. [OE. gnasten, gnaisten, cf. Icel. gnastan a gnashing, gn to gnash, Dan.knaske, Sw. gnissla, D. knarsen, G. knirschen.]
- 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,]
- chiefest a.
- First or foremost; chief; principal. [Superl. of Chief.]
- havoc n.
- Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste. [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to]
- 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]
- cumber n.
- Trouble; embarrassment; distress. [Cf. encombre hindrance, impediment. See Cuber,v.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto I XL 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 XL, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-i-xl.html, id L06489.
Form and metre
Canto I XL 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 91%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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 noteA · heathB · smoteA · beneathB · deathB · rockC · breatheB · sirocC · shockC
- 2 ABABBCBCC standsA · sunB · handsA · uponB · anonB · feetC · doneB · meetC · sweetC
- 3 ABABBCBCC seeA · thereB · embroideryA · airB · lairB · preyC · shareB · awayC · arrayC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hark! heard you not those hoofs of dreadful note? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Sounds not the clang of conflict on the heath? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Saw ye not whom the reeking sabre smote; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Nor saved your brethren ere they sank beneath | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Tyrants and tyrants' slaves?--the fires of death, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/·· |
| The bale-fires flash on high:--from rock to rock | 10 | ··/······· |
| Each volley tells that thousands cease to breathe: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Death rides upon the sulphury Siroc, | 10 | ·····/˘˘/˘ |
| Red Battle stamps his foot, and nations feel the shock. | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| Lo! where the Giant on the mountain stands, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His blood-red tresses deepening in the sun, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| With death-shot glowing in his fiery hands, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And eye that scorcheth all it glares upon; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Restless it rolls, now fixed, and now anon | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Flashing afar,--and at his iron feet | 10 | /˘˘/···/˘· |
| Destruction cowers, to mark what deeds are done; | 10 | ˘/˘/······ |
| For on this morn three potent nations meet, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| To shed before his shrine the blood he deems most sweet. | 12 | ············ |
| By Heaven! it is a splendid sight to see | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| (For one who hath no friend, no brother there) | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Their rival scarfs of mixed embroidery, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| Their various arms that glitter in the air! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| What gallant war-hounds rouse them from their lair, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And gnash their fangs, loud yelling for the prey! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| All join the chase, but few the triumph share: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The Grave shall bear the chiefest prize away, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And Havoc scarce for joy can cumber their array. | 12 | ·/˘····/˘·˘/ |
Notes from the edition 3
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 1, line 8 "The Siroc is the violent hot wind that for weeks together blows down the Mediterranean from the Archipelago. Its effects are well known to all who have passed the Straits of Gibraltar."--[MS. D.]
- Stanza 3, line 1 [The battle of Talavera began July 27, 1809, and lasted two days. As Byron must have reached Seville by the 21st or 22nd of the month, he was not, as might be inferred, a spectator of any part of the engagement. Writing to his mother, August 11, he says, "You have heard of the battle near Madrid, and in England they would call it a victory--a pretty victory! Two hundred officers and five thousand men killed, all English, and the French in as great force as ever. I should have joined the army, but we have no time to lose before we get up the Mediterranean."--Letters, i. 241.]
- Stanza 3, line 7 [Compare Campbell's "Hohenlinden"--"Few, few shall part where many meet."]
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.