Canto II LXIX
It chanced that adverse winds once drove his barkFull on the coast of Suli's shaggy shore,When all around was desolate and dark;To land was perilous, to sojourn more;Yet for awhile the mariners forbore,Dubious to trust where treachery might lurk:At length they ventured forth, though doubting soreThat those who loathe alike the Frank and TurkMight once again renew their ancient butcher-work.
Vain fear! the Suliotes stretched the welcome hand,Led them o'er rocks and past the dangerous swamp,Kinder than polished slaves, though not so bland,And piled the hearth, and wrung their garments damp,And filled the bowl, and trimmed the cheerful lamp,And spread their fare: though homely, all they had:Such conduct bears Philanthropy's rare stamp--To rest the weary and to soothe the sad,Doth lesson happier men, and shames at least the bad.
It came to pass, that when he did addressHimself to quit at length this mountain land,Combined marauders half-way barred egress,And wasted far and near with glaive and brand;And therefore did he take a trusty bandTo traverse Acarnania forest wide,In war well-seasoned, and with labours tanned,Till he did greet white Achelous' tide,And from his farther bank AEtolia's wolds espied.
Words in this poem
- drove n.
- A collection of cattle driven, or cattle collected for driving; a number of animals, as oxen, sheep, or swine, driven in a body. [AS. draf, fr. drifan to drive. See Drive.]
- sojourn v. i.
- To dwell for a time; to dwell or live in a place as a temporary resident or as a stranger, not considering the place as a permanent habitation; to delay; to tarry. [OE. sojornen, sojournen, OF. sojorner, sejorner, F. séjourner, fr. L. sub under, about + diurnus belonging to the day. See Journal, Diurnal.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- 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.]
- turk n.
- A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
- piled a.
- Having a pile or point; pointed. [From 2d Pile.]
- homely a.
- Belonging to, or having the characteristics of, home; domestic; familiar; intimate. [From Home, n.]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- glaive n.
- A weapon formerly used, consisting of a large blade fixed on the end of a pole, whose edge was on the outside curve; also, a light lance with a long sharp-pointed head. Wilhelm. [F. glaive, L. gladius; prob. akin to E. claymore. Cf. Gladiator.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II LXIX 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 LXIX, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-ii-lxix.html, id L06528.
Form and metre
Canto II LXIX 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 87%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 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 barkA · shoreB · darkA · moreB · forboreB · lurkC · soreB · turkC · workC
- 2 ABABBCBCC handA · swampB · blandA · dampB · lampB · hadC · stampB · sadC · badC
- 3 ABABBCBCC addressA · landB · egressA · brandB · bandB · wideC · tannedB · tideC · espiedC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It chanced that adverse winds once drove his bark | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Full on the coast of Suli's shaggy shore, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When all around was desolate and dark; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| To land was perilous, to sojourn more; | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Yet for awhile the mariners forbore, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘˘/ |
| Dubious to trust where treachery might lurk: | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| At length they ventured forth, though doubting sore | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That those who loathe alike the Frank and Turk | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Might once again renew their ancient butcher-work. | 12 | ··˘/˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Vain fear! the Suliotes stretched the welcome hand, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Led them o'er rocks and past the dangerous swamp, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Kinder than polished slaves, though not so bland, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| And piled the hearth, and wrung their garments damp, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And filled the bowl, and trimmed the cheerful lamp, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And spread their fare: though homely, all they had: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Such conduct bears Philanthropy's rare stamp-- | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘·· |
| To rest the weary and to soothe the sad, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Doth lesson happier men, and shames at least the bad. | 12 | ·/˘/˘······· |
| It came to pass, that when he did address | 10 | ········/· |
| Himself to quit at length this mountain land, | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Combined marauders half-way barred egress, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| And wasted far and near with glaive and brand; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And therefore did he take a trusty band | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To traverse Acarnania forest wide, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| In war well-seasoned, and with labours tanned, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Till he did greet white Achelous' tide, | 9 | ········· |
| And from his farther bank AEtolia's wolds espied. | 11 | ···/˘······ |
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 1, line 2 [The travellers left Janina on November 3, and reached Prevesa November 7. At midday November 9 they set sail for Patras in a galliot of Ali's, "a vessel of about fifty tons burden, with three short masts and a large lateen sail." Instead of doubling Cape Ducato, they were driven out to sea northward, and, finally, at one o'clock in the morning, anchored off the Port of Phanari on the Suliote coast. Towards the evening of the next day (November 10) they landed in "the marshy bay" (stanza lxviii. line 2) and rode to Volondorako, where they slept. "Here they were well received by the Albanian primate of the place and by the Vizier's soldiers quartered there." Instead of re-embarking in the galliot, they returned to Prevesa by land (November 11). As the country to the north of the Gulf of Arta was up in arms, and bodies of robbers were abroad, they procured an escort of thirty-seven Albanians, hired another galliot, and on Monday, the 13th, sailed across the entrance of the gulf as far as the fortress of Vonitsa, where they anchored for the night. By four o'clock in the afternoon of November 14 they reached Utraikey or Lutraki, "situated in a deep bay surrounded with rocks at the south-east corner of the Gulf of Arta." The courtyard of a barrack on the shore is the scene of the song and dance (stanzas lxx.-lxxii.). Here, in the original MS., the pilgrimage abruptly ends, and in the remaining stanzas the Childe moralizes on the fallen fortunes and vanished heroism of Greece.--Travels in Albania, i. 157-165.]
- Stanza 3, line 9 [The route from Utraikey to Gouria (November 15-18) lay through "thick woods of oak," with occasional peeps of the open cultivated district of AEtolia on the further side of the Aspropotamo, "white Achelous' tide." The Albanian guard was not dismissed until the travellers reached Mesolonghi (November 21).]
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