Canto II LXVI
Mid many things most new to ear and eye,The pilgrim rested here his weary feet,And gazed around on Moslem luxury,Till quickly wearied with that spacious seatOf Wealth and Wantonness, the choice retreatOf sated Grandeur from the city's noise:And were it humbler, it in sooth were sweet;But Peace abhorreth artificial joys,And Pleasure, leagued with Pomp, the zest of both destroys.
Fierce are Albania's children, yet they lackNot virtues, were those virtues more mature.Where is the foe that ever saw their back?Who can so well the toil of war endure?Their native fastnesses not more secureThan they in doubtful time of troublous need:Their wrath how deadly! but their friendship sure,When Gratitude or Valour bids them bleed,Unshaken rushing on where'er their chief may lead.
Childe Harold saw them in their chieftain's tower,Thronging to war in splendour and success;And after viewed them, when, within their power,Himself awhile the victim of distress;That saddening hour when bad men hotlier press:But these did shelter him beneath their roof,When less barbarians would have cheered him less,And fellow-countrymen have stood aloof--In aught that tries the heart how few withstand the proof!
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- humbler n.
- One who, or that which, humbles some one.
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- zest n.
- A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
- troublous a.
- Full of trouble; causing trouble.
- childe n.
- A cognomen formerly prefixed to his name by the oldest son, until he succeeded to his ancestral titles, or was knighted; as, Childe Roland.
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II LXVI 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 LXVI, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-ii-lxvi.html, id L06527.
Form and metre
Canto II LXVI 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 10.3 syllables. 3 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 eyeA · feetB · luxuryA · seatB · retreatB · noiseC · sweetB · joysC · destroysC
- 2 ABABBCBCC lackA · matureB · backA · endureB · secureB · needC · sureB · bleedC · leadC
- 3 ABABBCBCC towerA · successB · powerA · distressB · pressB · roofC · lessB · aloofC · proofC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mid many things most new to ear and eye, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The pilgrim rested here his weary feet, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| And gazed around on Moslem luxury, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Till quickly wearied with that spacious seat | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Of Wealth and Wantonness, the choice retreat | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Of sated Grandeur from the city's noise: | 10 | ·/˘˘/··/˘· |
| And were it humbler, it in sooth were sweet; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But Peace abhorreth artificial joys, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| And Pleasure, leagued with Pomp, the zest of both destroys. | 12 | ·/˘·······˘/ |
| Fierce are Albania's children, yet they lack | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Not virtues, were those virtues more mature. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Where is the foe that ever saw their back? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who can so well the toil of war endure? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Their native fastnesses not more secure | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| Than they in doubtful time of troublous need: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Their wrath how deadly! but their friendship sure, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| When Gratitude or Valour bids them bleed, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Unshaken rushing on where'er their chief may lead. | 13 | ˘/˘/˘·˘˘/···· |
| Childe Harold saw them in their chieftain's tower, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Thronging to war in splendour and success; | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| And after viewed them, when, within their power, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Himself awhile the victim of distress; | 10 | ˘/˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| That saddening hour when bad men hotlier press: | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| But these did shelter him beneath their roof, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When less barbarians would have cheered him less, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| And fellow-countrymen have stood aloof-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘··˘/ |
| In aught that tries the heart how few withstand the proof! | 12 | ········˘/·· |
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 3, line 8 Alluding to the wreckers of Cornwall.
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