Canto II IX
Well didst thou speak, Athena's wisest son!'All that we know is, nothing can be known.'Why should we shrink from what we cannot shun?Each hath its pang, but feeble sufferers groanWith brain-born dreams of evil all their own.Pursue what chance or fate proclaimeth best;Peace waits us on the shores of Acheron:There no forced banquet claims the sated guest,But Silence spreads the couch of ever welcome rest.
Yet if, as holiest men have deemed, there beA land of souls beyond that sable shore,To shame the doctrine of the SadduceeAnd sophists, madly vain of dubious lore;How sweet it were in concert to adoreWith those who made our mortal labours light!To hear each voice we feared to hear no more!Behold each mighty shade revealed to sight,The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the right!
There, thou!--whose love and life together fled,Have left me here to love and live in vain--Twined with my heart, and can I deem thee dead,When busy memory flashes on my brain?Well--I will dream that we may meet again,And woo the vision to my vacant breast:If aught of young Remembrance then remain,Be as it may Futurity's behest,For me 'twere bliss enough to know thy spirit blest!
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- acheron n.
- A river in the Nether World or infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf.
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- sadducee n.
- One of a sect among the ancient Jews, who denied the resurrection, a future state, and the existence of angels. [L. Sadducaei, p., Gr. Tsaddukim; -- so called from Tsadok, the founder of the sect.]
- madly adv.
- In a mad manner; without reason or understanding; wildly. [From Mad, a.]
- dubious a.
- Doubtful or not settled in opinion; being in doubt; wavering or fluctuating; undetermined. [L. dubius, dubiosus, fr. duo two. See Two, and cf. Doubt.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- bactrian a.
- Of or pertaining to Bactria in Asia.
- samian a.
- Of or pertaining to the island of Samos. [L. Samius.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- behest v. t.
- To vow. Paston.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II IX 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 II IX, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-ii-ix.html, id L06508.
Form and metre
Canto II IX 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%). 94% 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. 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 sonA · knownB · shunA · groanB · ownB · bestC · acheronB · guestC · restC
- 2 ABABBCBCC beA · shoreB · sadduceeA · loreB · adoreB · lightC · moreB · sightC · rightC
- 3 ABABBCBCC fledA · vainB · deadA · brainB · againB · breastC · remainB · behestC · blestC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Well didst thou speak, Athena's wisest son! | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| 'All that we know is, nothing can be known.' | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Why should we shrink from what we cannot shun? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Each hath its pang, but feeble sufferers groan | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| With brain-born dreams of evil all their own. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Pursue what chance or fate proclaimeth best; | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| Peace waits us on the shores of Acheron: | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| There no forced banquet claims the sated guest, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But Silence spreads the couch of ever welcome rest. | 11 | ·/˘····//˘· |
| Yet if, as holiest men have deemed, there be | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A land of souls beyond that sable shore, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To shame the doctrine of the Sadducee | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| And sophists, madly vain of dubious lore; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| How sweet it were in concert to adore | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| With those who made our mortal labours light! | 10 | ····//˘/˘· |
| To hear each voice we feared to hear no more! | 10 | ·········· |
| Behold each mighty shade revealed to sight, | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/·· |
| The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the right! | 14 | ·/˘˘/˘˘······· |
| There, thou!--whose love and life together fled, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Have left me here to love and live in vain-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Twined with my heart, and can I deem thee dead, | 10 | ·········· |
| When busy memory flashes on my brain? | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Well--I will dream that we may meet again, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And woo the vision to my vacant breast: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| If aught of young Remembrance then remain, | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Be as it may Futurity's behest, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| For me 'twere bliss enough to know thy spirit blest! | 11 | ····˘/···/· |
Notes from the edition 1
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 1 [Socrates affirmed that true self-knowledge was to know that we know nothing, and in his own case he denied any other knowledge; but "this confession of ignorance was certainly not meant to be a sceptical denial of all knowledge." "The idea of knowledge was to him a boundless field, in the face of which he could not but be ignorant" (Socrates and the Socratic Schools, by Dr. E. Zeller, London, 1868, p. 102).]
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