Canto III LXXVI
And when, at length, the mind shall be all freeFrom what it hates in this degraded form,Reft of its carnal life, save what shall beExistent happier in the fly and worm,--When elements to elements conform,And dust is as it should be, shall I notFeel all I see, less dazzling, but more warm?The bodiless thought? the Spirit of each spot?Of which, even now, I share at times the immortal lot?
Are not the mountains, waves, and skies a partOf me and of my soul, as I of them?Is not the love of these deep in my heartWith a pure passion? should I not contemnAll objects, if compared with these? and stemA tide of suffering, rather than foregoSuch feelings for the hard and worldly phlegmOf those whose eyes are only turned below,Gazing upon the ground, with thoughts which dare not glow?
But this is not my theme; and I returnTo that which is immediate, and requireThose who find contemplation in the urn,To look on One whose dust was once all fire,A native of the land where I respireThe clear air for awhile--a passing guest,Where he became a being,--whose desireWas to be glorious; 'twas a foolish quest,The which to gain and keep he sacrificed all rest.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- reft n.
- A chink; a rift. See Rift. Rom. of R.
- bodiless a.
- Having no body.
- contemn v. t.
- To view or treat with contempt, as mean and despicable; to reject with disdain; to despise; to scorn. [L. contemnere, -temptum; con- + temnere to slight, despise: cf. OF. contemner.]
- forego v. t.
- To quit; to relinquish; to leave. [See Forgo.]
- respire v. i.
- To take breath again; hence, to take rest or refreshment. [L. respirare, respiratum; pref. re- re- + spirare to breathe: cf. F. respirer. See Spirit.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto III LXXVI 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 III LXXVI, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-iii-lxxvi.html, id L06564.
Form and metre
Canto III LXXVI 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 85%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 48% 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 freeA · formB · beA · wormB · conformB · notC · warmB · spotC · lotC
- 2 ABABBCBCC partA · themB · heartA · contemnB · stemB · foregoC · phlegmB · belowC · glowC
- 3 ABABBCBCC returnA · requireB · urnA · fireB · respireB · guestC · desireB · questC · restC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| And when, at length, the mind shall be all free | 10 | ·········· |
| From what it hates in this degraded form, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Reft of its carnal life, save what shall be | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Existent happier in the fly and worm,-- | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| When elements to elements conform, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘˘/ |
| And dust is as it should be, shall I not | 10 | ·········· |
| Feel all I see, less dazzling, but more warm? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The bodiless thought? the Spirit of each spot? | 10 | ·/˘˘··/··· |
| Of which, even now, I share at times the immortal lot? | 13 | ··/······˘/˘· |
| Are not the mountains, waves, and skies a part | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Of me and of my soul, as I of them? | 10 | ·········· |
| Is not the love of these deep in my heart | 10 | ·········· |
| With a pure passion? should I not contemn | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| All objects, if compared with these? and stem | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| A tide of suffering, rather than forego | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Such feelings for the hard and worldly phlegm | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Of those whose eyes are only turned below, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Gazing upon the ground, with thoughts which dare not glow? | 12 | /˘·········· |
| But this is not my theme; and I return | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To that which is immediate, and require | 11 | ····˘/˘··/˘ |
| Those who find contemplation in the urn, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| To look on One whose dust was once all fire, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| A native of the land where I respire | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The clear air for awhile--a passing guest, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Where he became a being,--whose desire | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Was to be glorious; 'twas a foolish quest, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The which to gain and keep he sacrificed all rest. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
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 9 [The "bodiless thought" is the object, not the subject, of his celestial vision. "Even now," as through a glass darkly, and with eyes
"Whose half-beholdings through unsteady tears Gave shape, hue, distance to the inward dream,"
his soul "had sight" of the spirit, the informing idea, the essence of each passing scene; but, hereafter, his bodiless spirit would, as it were, encounter the place-spirits face to face. It is to be noted that warmth of feeling, not clearness or fulness of perception, attends this spiritual recognition.] - Stanza 2, line 9 [Compare Coleridge's Dejection. An Ode, iv. 4-9--
"And would we aught behold, of higher worth, Than that inanimate cold world allowed To the poor, loveless, ever-anxious crowd; Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud Enveloping the earth."]
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.