Canto III: Canto III XIII
She clapped her hands, and through the gallery pour,Equipped for flight, her vassals--Greek and Moor;Silent but quick they stoop, his chains unbind;Once more his limbs are free as mountain wind!But on his heavy heart such sadness sate,As if they there transferred that iron weight.No words are uttered--at her sign, a doorReveals the secret passage to the shore;The city lies behind--they speed, they reachThe glad waves dancing on the yellow beach;And Conrad following, at her beck, obeyed,Nor cared he now if rescued or betrayed;Resistance were as useless as if SeydYet lived to view the doom his ire decreed.
Embarked--the sail unfurled--the light breeze blew--How much had Conrad's memory to review!ieSunk he in contemplation, till the CapeWhere last he anchored reared its giant shape.Ah!--since that fatal night, though brief the time,Had swept an age of terror, grief, and crime.As its far shadow frowned above the mast,He veiled his face, and sorrowed as he passed;He thought of all--Gonsalvo and his band,His fleeting triumph and his failing hand;He thought on her afar, his lonely bride:He turned and saw--Gulnare, the Homicide!
Words in this poem
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- 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.]
- anchored a.
- Held by an anchor; at anchor; held safely; as, an anchored bark; also, shaped like an anchor; forked; as, an anchored tongue.
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- sorrowed a.
- Accompanied with sorrow; sorrowful.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Canto III: Canto III XIII 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 III: Canto III XIII, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/canto-iii-canto-iii-xiii.html, id L23924.
Form and metre
Canto III: Canto III XIII is 26 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 A-BBCCAADDEEE- pourA · moor · unbindB · windB · sateC · weightC · doorA · shoreA · reachD · beachD · obeyedE · betrayedE · seydE · decreed
- 2 --AABBCCDDEE blew · review!ie · capeA · shapeA · timeB · crimeB · mastC · passedC · bandD · handD · brideE · homicideE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| She clapped her hands, and through the gallery pour, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Equipped for flight, her vassals--Greek and Moor; | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Silent but quick they stoop, his chains unbind; | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| Once more his limbs are free as mountain wind! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But on his heavy heart such sadness sate, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| As if they there transferred that iron weight. | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| No words are uttered--at her sign, a door | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Reveals the secret passage to the shore; | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘··· |
| The city lies behind--they speed, they reach | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The glad waves dancing on the yellow beach; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And Conrad following, at her beck, obeyed, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Nor cared he now if rescued or betrayed; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Resistance were as useless as if Seyd | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Yet lived to view the doom his ire decreed. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Embarked--the sail unfurled--the light breeze blew-- | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| How much had Conrad's memory to review!ie | 11 | ···/˘/˘··/· |
| Sunk he in contemplation, till the Cape | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Where last he anchored reared its giant shape. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Ah!--since that fatal night, though brief the time, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Had swept an age of terror, grief, and crime. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As its far shadow frowned above the mast, | 10 | ···/······ |
| He veiled his face, and sorrowed as he passed; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| He thought of all--Gonsalvo and his band, | 10 | ·········· |
| His fleeting triumph and his failing hand; | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| He thought on her afar, his lonely bride: | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| He turned and saw--Gulnare, the Homicide! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
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