Canto II: Canto II XI
In the high chamber of his highest towerSate Conrad, fettered in the Pacha's power.His palace perished in the flame--this fortContained at once his captive and his court.Not much could Conrad of his sentence blame,His foe, if vanquished, had but shared the same:--Alone he sate--in solitude had scannedHis guilty bosom, but that breast he manned:One thought alone he could not--dared not meet--"Oh, how these tidings will Medora greet?"Then--only then--his clanking hands he raised,And strained with rage the chain on which he gazed;But soon he found, or feigned, or dreamed relief,And smiled in self-derision of his grief,"And now come Torture when it will, or may--More need of rest to nerve me for the day!"This said, with langour to his mat he crept,And, whatso'er his visions, quickly slept.
'Twas hardly midnight when that fray begun,For Conrad's plans matured, at once were done,And Havoc loathes so much the waste of time,She scarce had left an uncommitted crime.One hour beheld him since the tide he stemmed--Disguised--discovered--conquering--ta'en--condemned--A Chief on land--an outlaw on the deep--Destroying--saving--prisoned--and asleep!
Words in this poem
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- havoc n.
- Wide and general destruction; devastation; waste. [W. hafog devastation, havoc; or, if this be itself fr. E. havoc, cf. OE. havot, or AS. hafoc hawk, which is a cruel or rapacious bird, or F. hai, voux! a cry to]
- 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]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II: Canto II XI is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; 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 II: Canto II XI, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/canto-ii-canto-ii-xi.html, id L23910.
Form and metre
Canto II: Canto II XI is 26 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII towerA · powerA · fortB · courtB · blameC · sameC · scannedD · mannedD · meetE · greetE · raisedF · gazedF · reliefG · griefG · mayH · dayH · creptI · sleptI
- 2 AABBCCDD begunA · doneA · timeB · crimeB · stemmedC · condemnedC · deepD · asleepD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the high chamber of his highest tower | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Sate Conrad, fettered in the Pacha's power. | 11 | ·/˘/˘····/˘ |
| His palace perished in the flame--this fort | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Contained at once his captive and his court. | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Not much could Conrad of his sentence blame, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| His foe, if vanquished, had but shared the same:-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Alone he sate--in solitude had scanned | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| His guilty bosom, but that breast he manned: | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| One thought alone he could not--dared not meet-- | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| "Oh, how these tidings will Medora greet?" | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Then--only then--his clanking hands he raised, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And strained with rage the chain on which he gazed; | 10 | ·········· |
| But soon he found, or feigned, or dreamed relief, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And smiled in self-derision of his grief, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| "And now come Torture when it will, or may-- | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| More need of rest to nerve me for the day!" | 10 | ·········· |
| This said, with langour to his mat he crept, | 10 | ·········· |
| And, whatso'er his visions, quickly slept. | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| 'Twas hardly midnight when that fray begun, | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| For Conrad's plans matured, at once were done, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| And Havoc loathes so much the waste of time, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| She scarce had left an uncommitted crime. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| One hour beheld him since the tide he stemmed-- | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Disguised--discovered--conquering--ta'en--condemned-- | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| A Chief on land--an outlaw on the deep-- | 10 | ·····/···· |
| Destroying--saving--prisoned--and asleep! | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
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.