Canto IV XXIV
All suffering doth destroy, or is destroyed,Even by the sufferer; and, in each event,Ends:--Some, with hope replenished and rebuoyed,Return to whence they came--with like intent,And weave their web again; some, bowed and bent,Wax grey and ghastly, withering ere their time,And perish with the reed on which they leant;Some seek devotion, toil, war, good or crime,According as their souls were formed to sink or climb.
But ever and anon of griefs subduedThere comes a token like a scorpion's sting,Scarce seen, but with fresh bitterness imbued;And slight withal may be the things which bringBack on the heart the weight which it would flingAside for ever: it may be a sound--A tone of music--summer's eve--or spring--A flower--the wind--the ocean--which shall wound,Striking the electric chain wherewith we are darkly bound.
And how and why we know not, nor can traceHome to its cloud this lightning of the mind,But feel the shock renewed, nor can effaceThe blight and blackening which it leaves behind,Which out of things familiar, undesigned,When least we deem of such, calls up to viewThe spectres whom no exorcism can bind,--The cold--the changed--perchance the dead--anew,The mourned, the loved, the lost--too many!--yet how few!
Words in this poem
- sufferer n.
- One who suffers; one who endures or undergoes suffering; one who sustains inconvenience or loss; as, sufferers by poverty or sickness; men are sufferers by fire or by losses at sea.
- withering a.
- Tending to wither; causing to shrink or fade.
- anon adv.
- Straightway; at once. [OE. anoon, anon, anan, lit., in one (moment), fr. AS. on in + an one. See On and One.]
- 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]
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- 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,]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
- exorcism n.
- The act of exorcising; the driving out of evil spirits from persons or places by conjuration; also, the form of conjuration used. [L. exorcismus, Gr. ; cf. F. exorcisme.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto IV XXIV 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 XXIV, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5131, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-childe-harold/canto-iv-xxiv.html, id L06586.
Form and metre
Canto IV XXIV 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 86%). 96% 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. 22% 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 destroyedA · eventB · rebuoyedA · intentB · bentB · timeC · leantB · crimeC · climbC
- 2 ABABBCBCC subduedA · stingB · imbuedA · bringB · flingB · soundC · springB · woundC · boundC
- 3 ABABBCBCC traceA · mindB · effaceA · behindB · undesignedB · viewC · bindB · anewC · fewC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| All suffering doth destroy, or is destroyed, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| Even by the sufferer; and, in each event, | 10 | /··/˘···˘/ |
| Ends:--Some, with hope replenished and rebuoyed, | 10 | ····˘/˘˘·· |
| Return to whence they came--with like intent, | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| And weave their web again; some, bowed and bent, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Wax grey and ghastly, withering ere their time, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And perish with the reed on which they leant; | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
| Some seek devotion, toil, war, good or crime, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| According as their souls were formed to sink or climb. | 12 | ˘/˘········· |
| But ever and anon of griefs subdued | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| There comes a token like a scorpion's sting, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Scarce seen, but with fresh bitterness imbued; | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| And slight withal may be the things which bring | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Back on the heart the weight which it would fling | 10 | ·········· |
| Aside for ever: it may be a sound-- | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| A tone of music--summer's eve--or spring-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| A flower--the wind--the ocean--which shall wound, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| Striking the electric chain wherewith we are darkly bound. | 14 | /˘·˘/˘·˘/··/˘· |
| And how and why we know not, nor can trace | 10 | ·········· |
| Home to its cloud this lightning of the mind, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But feel the shock renewed, nor can efface | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| The blight and blackening which it leaves behind, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Which out of things familiar, undesigned, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| When least we deem of such, calls up to view | 10 | ·········· |
| The spectres whom no exorcism can bind,-- | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| The cold--the changed--perchance the dead--anew, | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| The mourned, the loved, the lost--too many!--yet how few! | 11 | ·······/··· |
Notes from the edition 3
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 1 [Cicero, De Finibus, II. xxix., controverts the maxim of Epicurus, that a great sorrow is necessarily of short duration, a prolonged sorrow necessarily light: "Quod autem magnum dolorem brevem longinquum levem esse dicitis, id non intelligo quale sit, video enim et magnos et eosdem bene longinquos dolores." But the sentiment is adopted by Montaigne (1. xiv.), ed. 1580, p. 66: "Tu ne la sentiras guiere long temps, si tu la sens trop; elle mettra fin a soy ou a toy; l'un et l'autre revient a un." ("Si tu ne la portes; elle t'emportera," note.) And again by Sir Thomas Brown, "Sense endureth no extremities, and sorrows destroy us or themselves" (see Darmesteter, Childe Harold, 1882, p. 193). Byron is not refining upon these conceits, but is drawing upon his own experience. Suffering which does not kill is subject to change, and "continueth not in one stay;" but it remains within call, and returns in an hour when we are not aware.]
- Stanza 2, line 6 [Compare Bishop Blougram's lament on the instability of unfaith--
"Just when we are safest, there's a sunset-touch, A fancy from a flower-bell, some one's death, A chorus-ending from Euripides,-- And that's enough for fifty hopes and fears.
To rap and knock and enter in our soul, Take hands and dance there." Browning's Poetical Works, 1869, v. 268.] - Stanza 3, line 9 [Compare Scott's Lady of the Lake, I. xxxiii. lines 21, 22--
"They come, in dim procession led, The cold, the faithless, and the dead."]
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.