Canto IV CV
Perchance she died in age--surviving all,Charms, kindred, children--with the silver greyOn her long tresses, which might yet recall,It may be, still a something of the dayWhen they were braided, and her proud arrayAnd lovely form were envied, praised, and eyedBy Rome--But whither would Conjecture stray?Thus much alone we know--Metella died,The wealthiest Roman's wife: Behold his love or pride!
I know not why--but standing thus by theeIt seems as if I had thine inmate known,Thou Tomb! and other days come back on meWith recollected music, though the toneIs changed and solemn, like the cloudy groanOf dying thunder on the distant wind;Yet could I seat me by this ivied stoneTill I had bodied forth the heated mind,Forms from the floating wreck which ruin leaves behind;
And from the planks, far shattered o'er the rocks,Built me a little bark of hope, once moreTo battle with the ocean and the shocksOf the loud breakers, and the ceaseless roarWhich rushes on the solitary shoreWhere all lies foundered that was ever dear:But could I gather from the wave-worn storeEnough for my rude boat, where should I steer?There woos no home, nor hope, nor life, save what is here.
Words in this poem
- surviving a.
- Remaining alive; yet living or existing; as, surviving friends; surviving customs.
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- ivied a.
- Overgrown with ivy. [From Ivy.]
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto IV CV 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 CV, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-iv-cv.html, id L06613.
Form and metre
Canto IV CV 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%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 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 allA · greyB · recallA · dayB · arrayB · eyedC · strayB · diedC · prideC
- 2 ABABBCBCC theeA · knownB · meA · toneB · groanB · windC · stoneB · mindC · behindC
- 3 ABABBCBCC rocksA · moreB · shocksA · roarB · shoreB · dearC · storeB · steerC · hereC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Perchance she died in age--surviving all, | 10 | ˘/····˘/˘· |
| Charms, kindred, children--with the silver grey | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| On her long tresses, which might yet recall, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| It may be, still a something of the day | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| When they were braided, and her proud array | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And lovely form were envied, praised, and eyed | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| By Rome--But whither would Conjecture stray? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Thus much alone we know--Metella died, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The wealthiest Roman's wife: Behold his love or pride! | 12 | ·/˘/˘·˘/···· |
| I know not why--but standing thus by thee | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| It seems as if I had thine inmate known, | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Thou Tomb! and other days come back on me | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With recollected music, though the tone | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| Is changed and solemn, like the cloudy groan | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of dying thunder on the distant wind; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Yet could I seat me by this ivied stone | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Till I had bodied forth the heated mind, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Forms from the floating wreck which ruin leaves behind; | 11 | ···/˘··/··· |
| And from the planks, far shattered o'er the rocks, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Built me a little bark of hope, once more | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To battle with the ocean and the shocks | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Of the loud breakers, and the ceaseless roar | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Which rushes on the solitary shore | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘· |
| Where all lies foundered that was ever dear: | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| But could I gather from the wave-worn store | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Enough for my rude boat, where should I steer? | 10 | ˘/········ |
| There woos no home, nor hope, nor life, save what is here. | 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 7 ["It is more likely to have been the pride than the love of Crassus which raised so superb a memorial to a wife whose name is not mentioned in history, unless she be supposed to be that lady whose intimacy with Dolabella was so offensive to Tullia, the daughter of Cicero, or she who was divorced by Lentulus Spinther, or she, perhaps the same person, from whose ear the son of AEsopus transferred a precious jewel to enrich his daughter (vide Hor., Sat., ii. 3. 239)" (Hist. Illust., p. 200). The wealth of Crassus was proverbial, as his agnomen, Dives, testifies (Plut., Crassus, ii., iii., Lipsiae, 1813, v. 156, sq.).]
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