Canto I XLIII
Three hosts combine to offer sacrifice;Three tongues prefer strange orisons on high;Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue skies.The shouts are France, Spain, Albion, Victory!The foe, the victim, and the fond allyThat fights for all, but ever fights in vain,Are met--as if at home they could not die--To feed the crow on Talavera's plain,And fertilise the field that each pretends to gain.
There shall they rot--Ambition's honoured fools!Yes, Honour decks the turf that wraps their clay!Vain Sophistry! in these behold the tools,The broken tools, that tyrants cast awayBy myriads, when they dare to pave their wayWith human hearts--to what?--a dream alone.Can despots compass aught that hails their sway?Or call with truth one span of earth their own,Save that wherein at last they crumble bone by bone?
O Albuera, glorious field of grief!As o'er thy plain the Pilgrim pricked his steed,Who could foresee thee, in a space so brief,A scene where mingling foes should boast and bleed.Peace to the perished! may the warrior's meedAnd tears of triumph their reward prolong!Till others fall where other chieftains lead,Thy name shall circle round the gaping throng,And shine in worthless lays, the theme of transient song.
Words in this poem
- albion n.
- An ancient name of England, still retained in poetry. [Prob. from the same root as Gael. alp a height or hill. "It may have been bestowed on the land lying behind the white cliffs visible from the coast of Gaul. Alb]
- fertilise v. t.
- To make fertile or enrich; to supply with nourishment for plants; to make fruitful or productive; as, to fertilize land, soil, ground, and meadows. [Cf. F. fertiliser.]
- 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,]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- sophistry n.
- The art or process of reasoning; logic. [OE. sophistrie, OF. sophisterie.]
- pave n.
- The pavement. Nymphe du pavé ([A low euphemism.] [F., from paver to pave. See Pave.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- 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.]
- 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.]
- foresee v. i.
- To have or exercise foresight.
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto I XLIII 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 XLIII, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-i-xliii.html, id L06490.
Form and metre
Canto I XLIII 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 89%). 95% 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 sacrificeA · highB · skiesA · victoryB · allyB · vainC · dieB · plainC · gainC
- 2 ABABBCBCC foolsA · clayB · toolsA · awayB · wayB · aloneC · swayB · ownC · boneC
- 3 ABABBCBCC griefA · steedB · briefA · bleedB · meedB · prolongC · leadB · throngC · songC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Three hosts combine to offer sacrifice; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Three tongues prefer strange orisons on high; | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue skies. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The shouts are France, Spain, Albion, Victory! | 11 | ·····/˘˘/˘˘ |
| The foe, the victim, and the fond ally | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| That fights for all, but ever fights in vain, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Are met--as if at home they could not die-- | 10 | ·········· |
| To feed the crow on Talavera's plain, | 10 | ·····˘˘/˘· |
| And fertilise the field that each pretends to gain. | 12 | ·/˘·····˘/·· |
| There shall they rot--Ambition's honoured fools! | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| Yes, Honour decks the turf that wraps their clay! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Vain Sophistry! in these behold the tools, | 10 | ·/˘˘··˘/·· |
| The broken tools, that tyrants cast away | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| By myriads, when they dare to pave their way | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| With human hearts--to what?--a dream alone. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Can despots compass aught that hails their sway? | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Or call with truth one span of earth their own, | 10 | ·········· |
| Save that wherein at last they crumble bone by bone? | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| O Albuera, glorious field of grief! | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| As o'er thy plain the Pilgrim pricked his steed, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who could foresee thee, in a space so brief, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| A scene where mingling foes should boast and bleed. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Peace to the perished! may the warrior's meed | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And tears of triumph their reward prolong! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Till others fall where other chieftains lead, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Thy name shall circle round the gaping throng, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And shine in worthless lays, the theme of transient song. | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
Notes from the edition 5
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 3 [Compare Macbeth, act i. sc. 2, line 51--"Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky."]
- Stanza 1, line 6 [In a letter to Colonel Malcolm, December 3, 1809, the Duke admits that the spoils of conquest were of a moral rather than of a material kind. "The battle of Talavera was certainly the hardest fought of modern days.... It is lamentable that, owing to the miserable inefficiency of the Spaniards, ... the glory of the action is the only benefit which we have derived from it.... I have in hand a most difficult task.... In such circumstances one may fail, but it would be dishonourable to shrink from the task."--Wellington Dispatches, 1844, iii. 621.]
- Stanza 2, line 2 Two lines of Collins' Ode, "How sleep the brave," etc., have been compressed into one--
"There Honour comes a pilgrim grey, To bless the turf that wraps their clay." - Stanza 3, line 1 [The battle of Albuera (May 16, 1811), at which the English, under Lord Beresford, repulsed Soult, was somewhat of a Pyrrhic victory. "Another such a battle," wrote the Duke, "would ruin us. I am working hard to put all right again." The French are said to have lost between 8000 and 9000 men, the English 4158, the Spaniards 1365.]
- Stanza 3, line 9 [Albuera was celebrated by Scott, in his Vision of Don Roderick. The Battle of Albuera, a Poem (anon.), was published in October, 1811.]
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.