Canto II XXXIII
Thus Harold deemed, as on that lady's eyeHe looked, and met its beam without a thought,Save Admiration glancing harmless by:Love kept aloof, albeit not far remote,Who knew his votary often lost and caught,But knew him as his worshipper no more,And ne'er again the boy his bosom sought:Since now he vainly urged him to adore,Well deemed the little god his ancient sway was o'er.
Fair Florence found, in sooth with some amaze,One who, 'twas said, still sighed to all he saw,Withstand, unmoved, the lustre of her gaze,Which others hailed with real or mimic awe,Their hope, their doom, their punishment, their law:All that gay Beauty from her bondsmen claims:And much she marvelled that a youth so rawNor felt, nor feigned at least, the oft-told flames,Which, though sometimes they frown, yet rarely anger dames.
Little knew she that seeming marble heart,Now masked by silence or withheld by pride,Was not unskilful in the spoiler's art,And spread its snares licentious far and wide;Nor from the base pursuit had turned aside,As long as aught was worthy to pursue:But Harold on such arts no more relied;And had he doted on those eyes so blue,Yet never would he join the lover's whining crew.
Words in this poem
- admiration n.
- Wonder; astonishment. [F., fr. L. admiratio. See Admire.]
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- 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]
- 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]
- amaze v. t.
- To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze. [Pref. a- + maze.]
- unmoved a.
- Not moved; fixed; firm; unshaken; calm; apathetic.
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- doted a.
- Stupid; foolish.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II XXXIII 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 XXXIII, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-ii-xxxiii.html, id L06516.
Form and metre
Canto II XXXIII 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 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 7% 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 · thoughtB · byA · remoteB · caughtB · moreC · soughtB · adoreC · o'erC
- 2 ABABBCBCC amazeA · sawB · gazeA · aweB · lawB · claimsC · rawB · flamesC · damesC
- 3 ABABBCBCC heartA · prideB · artA · wideB · asideB · pursueC · reliedB · blueC · crewC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thus Harold deemed, as on that lady's eye | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| He looked, and met its beam without a thought, | 10 | ·········· |
| Save Admiration glancing harmless by: | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Love kept aloof, albeit not far remote, | 11 | ··˘/˘/˘··˘/ |
| Who knew his votary often lost and caught, | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘··· |
| But knew him as his worshipper no more, | 10 | ·········· |
| And ne'er again the boy his bosom sought: | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Since now he vainly urged him to adore, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Well deemed the little god his ancient sway was o'er. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| Fair Florence found, in sooth with some amaze, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| One who, 'twas said, still sighed to all he saw, | 10 | ·········· |
| Withstand, unmoved, the lustre of her gaze, | 10 | ˘/˘/·/˘··· |
| Which others hailed with real or mimic awe, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Their hope, their doom, their punishment, their law: | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| All that gay Beauty from her bondsmen claims: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And much she marvelled that a youth so raw | 10 | ···˘/····· |
| Nor felt, nor feigned at least, the oft-told flames, | 10 | ·········· |
| Which, though sometimes they frown, yet rarely anger dames. | 12 | ··˘/···/˘/˘· |
| Little knew she that seeming marble heart, | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
| Now masked by silence or withheld by pride, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Was not unskilful in the spoiler's art, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And spread its snares licentious far and wide; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Nor from the base pursuit had turned aside, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| As long as aught was worthy to pursue: | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| But Harold on such arts no more relied; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And had he doted on those eyes so blue, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Yet never would he join the lover's whining crew. | 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 3, line 4 [More than one commentator gravely "sets against" this line--Byron's statement to Dallas (Corr. of Lord Byron, Paris, 1824, iii. 91), "I am not a Joseph or a Scipio; but I can safely affirm that never in my life I seduced any woman." Compare Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi, 1890, ii. 12, "Never have I employed the iniquitous art of seduction ... Languishing in soft and thrilling sentiments, I demanded from a woman a sympathy and inclination of like nature with my own. If she fell ... I should have remembered how she made for me the greatest of all sacrifices.... I should have worshipped her like a deity. I could have spent my life's blood in consoling her; and without swearing eternal constancy, I should have been most stable on my side in loving such a mistress."]
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.