Canto IV IX
I saw or dreamed of such,--but let them go--They came like truth, and disappeared like dreams;And whatsoe'er they were--are now but so;I could replace them if I would: still teemsMy mind with many a form which aptly seemsSuch as I sought for, and at moments found;Let these too go--for waking reason deemsSuch overweening phantasies unsound,And other voices speak, and other sights surround.
I've taught me other tongues, and in strange eyesHave made me not a stranger; to the mindWhich is itself, no changes bring surprise;Nor is it harsh to make, nor hard to findA country with--ay, or without mankind;Yet was I born where men are proud to be,Not without cause; and should I leave behindThe inviolate island of the sage and free,And seek me out a home by a remoter sea,
Perhaps I loved it well: and should I layMy ashes in a soil which is not mine,My spirit shall resume it--if we mayUnbodied choose a sanctuary. I twineMy hopes of being remembered in my lineWith my land's language: if too fond and farThese aspirations in their scope incline,--If my fame should be, as my fortunes are,Of hasty growth and blight, and dull Oblivion bar.
Words in this poem
- aptly adv.
- In an apt or suitable manner; fitly; properly; pertinently; appropriately; readily.
- inviolate a.
- Not violated; uninjured; unhurt; unbroken. [L. inviolatus. See In- not, and Violate.]
- 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,]
- resume n.
- A summing up; a condensed statement; an abridgment or brief recapitulation. [F. See Resume.]
- oblivion n.
- The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness. [L. oblivio, akin to oblivisci to forget: cf. OF. oblivion.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto IV IX 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 IX, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-iv-ix.html, id L06581.
Form and metre
Canto IV IX 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 87%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 44% 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 goA · dreamsB · soA · teemsB · seemsB · foundC · deemsB · unsoundC · surroundC
- 2 ABABBCBCC eyesA · mindB · surpriseA · findB · mankindB · beC · behindB · freeC · seaC
- 3 ABABBCBCC layA · mineB · mayA · twineB · lineB · farC · inclineB · areC · barC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I saw or dreamed of such,--but let them go-- | 10 | ·········· |
| They came like truth, and disappeared like dreams; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And whatsoe'er they were--are now but so; | 9 | ········· |
| I could replace them if I would: still teems | 10 | ···/······ |
| My mind with many a form which aptly seems | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| Such as I sought for, and at moments found; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Let these too go--for waking reason deems | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Such overweening phantasies unsound, | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| And other voices speak, and other sights surround. | 12 | ·/˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| I've taught me other tongues, and in strange eyes | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Have made me not a stranger; to the mind | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Which is itself, no changes bring surprise; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Nor is it harsh to make, nor hard to find | 10 | ·········· |
| A country with--ay, or without mankind; | 10 | ·/˘·····// |
| Yet was I born where men are proud to be, | 10 | ·········· |
| Not without cause; and should I leave behind | 10 | ·········· |
| The inviolate island of the sage and free, | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘····· |
| And seek me out a home by a remoter sea, | 12 | ············ |
| Perhaps I loved it well: and should I lay | 10 | ˘/········ |
| My ashes in a soil which is not mine, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| My spirit shall resume it--if we may | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Unbodied choose a sanctuary. I twine | 10 | ····/˘·˘·· |
| My hopes of being remembered in my line | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| With my land's language: if too fond and far | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| These aspirations in their scope incline,-- | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| If my fame should be, as my fortunes are, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Of hasty growth and blight, and dull Oblivion bar. | 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 3, line 4 [In another mood he wrote to Murray (June 7, 1819), "I trust they won't think of 'pickling, and bringing me home to Clod or Blunderbuss Hall' [see The Rivals, act v. sc. 3]. I am sure my bones would not rest in an English grave, or my clay mix with the earth of that country." In this half-humorous outburst he deprecates, or pretends to deprecate, the fate which actually awaited his remains--burial in the family vault at Hucknall Torkard. There is, of course, no reference to a public funeral and a grave in Westminster Abbey. In the next stanza (x. line 1) he assumes the possibility of his being excluded from the Temple of Fame; but there is, perhaps, a tacit reference to burial in the Abbey. If the thought, as is probable, occurred to him, he veils it in a metaphor.]
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