Canto III LXXXV
But this will not endure, nor be endured!Mankind have felt their strength, and made it felt.They might have used it better, but, alluredBy their new vigour, sternly have they dealtOn one another; Pity ceased to meltWith her once natural charities. But they,Who in Oppression's darkness caved had dwelt,They were not eagles, nourished with the day;What marvel then, at times, if they mistook their prey?
What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?The heart's bleed longest, and but heal to wearThat which disfigures it; and they who warWith their own hopes, and have been vanquished, bearSilence, but not submission: in his lairFixed Passion holds his breath, until the hourWhich shall atone for years; none need despair:It came, it cometh, and will come,--the powerTo punish or forgive--in ONE we shall be slower.
Clear, placid Leman! thy contrasted lake,With the wild world I dwelt in, is a thingWhich warns me, with its stillness, to forsakeEarth's troubled waters for a purer spring.This quiet sail is as a noiseless wingTo waft me from distraction; once I lovedTorn ocean's roar, but thy soft murmuringSounds sweet as if a sister's voice reproved,That I with stern delights should e'er have been so moved.
Words in this poem
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- 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,]
- atone v. t.
- To set at one; to reduce to concord; to reconcile, as parties at variance; to appease.
- placid a.
- Pleased; contented; unruffied; undisturbed; serene; peaceful; tranquil; quiet; gentle. [L. placidus, originally, pleasing, mild, from placere to please: cf. F. placide. See Please.]
- leman n.
- A sweetheart, of either sex; a gallant, or a mistress; -- usually in a bad sense. Chaucer. Spenser. [OE. lemman, legman; AS.leóf dear + mann man. See Lief, and Man.]
- stillness n.
- The quality or state of being still; quietness; silence; calmness; inactivity.
- waft v. t.
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
- distraction n.
- The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation. [L. distractio: cf. F. distraction.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto III LXXXV 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 LXXXV, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-iii-lxxxv.html, id L06567.
Form and metre
Canto III LXXXV 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 88%). 95% 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. 52% 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 enduredA · feltB · alluredA · dealtB · meltB · theyC · dweltB · dayC · preyC
- 2 ABABBCBCC scarA · wearB · warA · bearB · lairB · hourC · despairB · powerC · slowerC
- 3 ABABBCBCC lakeA · thingB · forsakeA · springB · wingB · lovedC · murmuringB · reprovedC · movedC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| But this will not endure, nor be endured! | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| Mankind have felt their strength, and made it felt. | 10 | //········ |
| They might have used it better, but, allured | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| By their new vigour, sternly have they dealt | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| On one another; Pity ceased to melt | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| With her once natural charities. But they, | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Who in Oppression's darkness caved had dwelt, | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| They were not eagles, nourished with the day; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| What marvel then, at times, if they mistook their prey? | 12 | ·/˘·····˘/·· |
| What deep wounds ever closed without a scar? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The heart's bleed longest, and but heal to wear | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That which disfigures it; and they who war | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| With their own hopes, and have been vanquished, bear | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Silence, but not submission: in his lair | 10 | /˘··˘/˘··· |
| Fixed Passion holds his breath, until the hour | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Which shall atone for years; none need despair: | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| It came, it cometh, and will come,--the power | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| To punish or forgive--in ONE we shall be slower. | 12 | ·/˘·˘/·····/ |
| Clear, placid Leman! thy contrasted lake, | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| With the wild world I dwelt in, is a thing | 10 | ·········· |
| Which warns me, with its stillness, to forsake | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Earth's troubled waters for a purer spring. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| This quiet sail is as a noiseless wing | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| To waft me from distraction; once I loved | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Torn ocean's roar, but thy soft murmuring | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Sounds sweet as if a sister's voice reproved, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| That I with stern delights should e'er have been so moved. | 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 2, line 9 [The substitution of "one" for "both" (see var. i.) affords conclusive proof that the meaning is that the next revolution would do its work more thoroughly and not leave things as it found them.]
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