Canto IV CLXV
And if it be Prometheus stole from heavenThe fire which we endure, it was repaidBy him to whom the energy was givenWhich this poetic marble hath arrayedWith an eternal glory--which, if madeBy human hands, is not of human thoughtAnd Time himself hath hallowed it, nor laidOne ringlet in the dust--nor hath it caughtA tinge of years, but breathes the flame with which 'twas wrought.
But where is he, the pilgrim of my song,The being who upheld it through the past?Methinks he cometh late and tarries long.He is no more--these breathings are his last;His wanderings done, his visions ebbing fast,And he himself as nothing:--if he wasAught but a phantasy, and could be classedWith forms which live and suffer--let that pass--His shadow fades away into Destruction's mass,
Which gathers shadow, substance, life, and allThat we inherit in its mortal shroud,And spreads the dim and universal pallThro' which all things grow phantoms; and the cloudBetween us sinks and all which ever glowed,Till Glory's self is twilight, and displaysA melancholy halo scarce allowedTo hover on the verge of darkness; raysSadder than saddest night, for they distract the gaze,
Words in this poem
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- ringlet n.
- A small ring; a small circle; specifically, a fairy ring. [Ring + -let.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- aught n.
- Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- hover n.
- A cover; a shelter; a protection. Carew. C. Kingsley. [Etymol. doubtful.]
- distract a.
- Separated; drawn asunder. [L. distractus, p. p. of distrahere to draw asunder; dis- + trahere to draw. See Trace, and cf. Distraught.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto IV CLXV 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 IV CLXV, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-iv-clxv.html, id L06633.
Form and metre
Canto IV CLXV 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%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 59% 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 heavenA · repaidB · givenA · arrayedB · madeB · thoughtC · laidB · caughtC · wroughtC
- 2 ABABBCBCC songA · pastB · longA · lastB · fastB · wasC · classedB · passC · massC
- 3 ABABBCBCC allA · shroudB · pallA · cloudB · glowedB · displaysC · allowedB · raysC · gazeC
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 if it be Prometheus stole from heaven | 11 | ····˘/˘˘··/ |
| The fire which we endure, it was repaid | 10 | ·/··˘/··˘/ |
| By him to whom the energy was given | 11 | ·····/˘˘·/˘ |
| Which this poetic marble hath arrayed | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| With an eternal glory--which, if made | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| By human hands, is not of human thought | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And Time himself hath hallowed it, nor laid | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| One ringlet in the dust--nor hath it caught | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| A tinge of years, but breathes the flame with which 'twas wrought. | 12 | ············ |
| But where is he, the pilgrim of my song, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The being who upheld it through the past? | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Methinks he cometh late and tarries long. | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| He is no more--these breathings are his last; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| His wanderings done, his visions ebbing fast, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And he himself as nothing:--if he was | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Aught but a phantasy, and could be classed | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| With forms which live and suffer--let that pass-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| His shadow fades away into Destruction's mass, | 12 | ·/··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Which gathers shadow, substance, life, and all | 10 | ·/˘/·/˘··· |
| That we inherit in its mortal shroud, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| And spreads the dim and universal pall | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Thro' which all things grow phantoms; and the cloud | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Between us sinks and all which ever glowed, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Till Glory's self is twilight, and displays | 10 | ·/˘··/··˘/ |
| A melancholy halo scarce allowed | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| To hover on the verge of darkness; rays | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Sadder than saddest night, for they distract the gaze, | 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 1, line 2 [The fire which Prometheus stole from heaven was the living soul, "the source of all our woe." (Compare Horace, Odes, i. 3. 29-31--
"Post ignem aetheria domo Subductum, Macies et nova Febrium Terris incubuit cohors.")]
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.