Canto II: Ge XV
"The deed once done, and Paswan's feudIn part suppressed, though ne'er subdued,Abdallah's Pachalick was gained:--Thou know'st not what in our DivanCan wealth procure for worse than man--Abdallah's honours were obtainedBy him a brother's murder stained;'Tis true, the purchase nearly drainedHis ill-got treasure, soon replaced.Would'st question whence? Survey the waste,And ask the squalid peasant howHis gains repay his broiling brow!--Why me the stern Usurper spared,Why thus with me his palace spared,I know not. Shame--regret--remorse--And little fear from infant's force--Besides, adoption as a sonBy him whom Heaven accorded none,Or some unknown cabal, caprice,Preserved me thus:--but not in peace:He cannot curb his haughty mood,gmNor I forgive a father's blood.
Words in this poem
- divan n.
- A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] [Per. diwan a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwan, F. divan.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- squalid a.
- Dirty through neglect; foul; filthy; extremely dirty. [L. squalidus, fr. squalere to be foul or filthy.]
- usurper n.
- One who usurps; especially, one who seizes illegally on sovereign power; as, the usurper of a throne, of power, or of the rights of a patron.
- cabal n.
- Tradition; occult doctrine. See Cabala Hakewill. [F. cabale cabal, cabala LL. cabala cabala, fr. Heb. qabbaleh reception, tradition, mysterious doctrine, fr. qabal to take or receive, in Piël qibbel to abopt (a]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto II: Ge XV 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: Ge XV, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/canto-ii-ge-xv.html, id L23888.
Form and metre
Canto II: Ge XV is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 73% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABCCBBBDDEEFFGGHHII-- feudA · subduedA · gainedB · divanC · manC · obtainedB · stainedB · drainedB · replacedD · wasteD · howE · browE · sparedF · sparedF · remorseG · forceG · sonH · noneH · capriceI · peaceI · mood,gm · blood
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "The deed once done, and Paswan's feud | 8 | ········ |
| In part suppressed, though ne'er subdued, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Abdallah's Pachalick was gained:-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou know'st not what in our Divan | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| Can wealth procure for worse than man-- | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Abdallah's honours were obtained | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| By him a brother's murder stained; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| 'Tis true, the purchase nearly drained | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His ill-got treasure, soon replaced. | 8 | ···/˘··/ |
| Would'st question whence? Survey the waste, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And ask the squalid peasant how | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| His gains repay his broiling brow!-- | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Why me the stern Usurper spared, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Why thus with me his palace spared, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I know not. Shame--regret--remorse-- | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| And little fear from infant's force-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Besides, adoption as a son | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| By him whom Heaven accorded none, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Or some unknown cabal, caprice, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘/ |
| Preserved me thus:--but not in peace: | 8 | ˘/······ |
| He cannot curb his haughty mood,gm | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Nor I forgive a father's blood. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
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.