Epistle to a Friend, in Answer to Some Lines Exhorting the Author to Be Cheerful, and to "Banish Care"
"Oh! banish care"--such ever beThe motto of thy revelry!Perchance of mine, when wassail nightsRenew those riotous delights,Wherewith the children of DespairLull the lone heart, and "banish care."But not in Morn's reflecting hour,When present, past, and future lower,When all I loved is changed or gone,Mock with such taunts the woes of one,Whose every thought--but let them pass--Thou know'st I am not what I was.But, above all, if thou wouldst holdPlace in a heart that ne'er was cold,By all the powers that men revere,By all unto thy bosom dear,Thy joys below, thy hopes above,Speak--speak of anything but Love.
'Twere long to tell, and vain to hear,The tale of one who scorns a tear;And there is little in that taleWhich better bosoms would bewail.But mine has suffered more than well'Twould suit philosophy to tell.I've seen my bride another's bride,--Have seen her seated by his side,--Have seen the infant, which she bore,Wear the sweet smile the mother wore,When she and I in youth have smiled,As fond and faultless as her child;--Have seen her eyes, in cold disdain,Ask if I felt no secret pain;And I have acted well my part,And made my cheek belie my heart,Returned the freezing glance she gave,Yet felt the while that woman's slave;--Have kissed, as if without design,The babe which ought to have been mine,And showed, alas! in each caressTime had not made me love the less.
But let this pass--I'll whine no more,Nor seek again an eastern shore;The world befits a busy brain,--I'll hie me to its haunts again.But if, in some succeeding year,When Britain's "May is in the sere,"Thou hear'st of one, whose deepening crimesSuit with the sablest of the times,Of one, whom love nor pity sways,Nor hope of fame, nor good men's praise;One, who in stern Ambition's pride,Perchance not blood shall turn aside;One ranked in some recording pageWith the worst anarchs of the age,Him wilt thou know--and knowing pause,Nor with the effect forget the cause.
Words in this poem
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- lull v. t.
- To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm; to soothe; to quiet. [Akin to OD. lullen to sing to sleep, G. lullen, Dan. lulle, Sw. lulla; all of imitative origin. Cf. Loll, Lollard.]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- revere v. t.
- To regard with reverence, or profound respect and affection, mingled with awe or fear; to venerate; to reverence; to honor in estimation. [L. revereri; pref. re- re- + vereri to fear, perh. akin to E. wary: cf. F. révérer.]
- faultless a.
- Without fault; not defective or imperfect; free from blemish; free from incorrectness, vice, or offense; perfect; as, a faultless poem.
- belie v. t.
- To show to be false; to convict of, or charge with, falsehood. [OE. bilien, bili, AS. beleógan; pref. be- + leógan to lie. See Lie, n.]
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- caress n.
- An act of endearment; any act or expression of affection; an embracing, or touching, with tenderness. [F. caresse, It. carezza, LL. caritia dearness, fr. L. carus dear. See Charity.]
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Epistle to a Friend, in Answer to Some Lines Exhorting the Author to Be Cheerful, and to "Banish Care" 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, Epistle to a Friend, in Answer to Some Lines Exhorting the Author to Be Cheerful, and to "Banish Care", in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/epistle-to-a-friend-in-answer-to-some-lines-exhorting-the-author-to-be-cheerful-and-to-banish-care.html, id L26290.
Form and metre
Epistle to a Friend, in Answer to Some Lines Exhorting the Author to Be Cheerful, and to "Banish Care" is 56 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII beA · revelryA · nightsB · delightsB · despairC · careC · hourD · lowerD · goneE · oneE · passF · wasF · holdG · coldG · revereH · dearH · aboveI · loveI
- 2 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKK hearA · tearA · taleB · bewailB · wellC · tellC · brideD · sideD · boreE · woreE · smiledF · childF · disdainG · painG · partH · heartH · gaveI · slaveI · designJ · mineJ · caressK · lessK
- 3 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH moreA · shoreA · brainB · againB · yearC · sereC · crimesD · timesD · swaysE · praiseE · prideF · asideF · pageG · ageG · pauseH · causeH
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 |
|---|---|---|
| "Oh! banish care"--such ever be | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The motto of thy revelry! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Perchance of mine, when wassail nights | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Renew those riotous delights, | 8 | ˘/·/˘˘˘/ |
| Wherewith the children of Despair | 8 | ˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Lull the lone heart, and "banish care." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But not in Morn's reflecting hour, | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| When present, past, and future lower, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| When all I loved is changed or gone, | 8 | ········ |
| Mock with such taunts the woes of one, | 8 | ········ |
| Whose every thought--but let them pass-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou know'st I am not what I was. | 8 | ········ |
| But, above all, if thou wouldst hold | 8 | ········ |
| Place in a heart that ne'er was cold, | 8 | ········ |
| By all the powers that men revere, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| By all unto thy bosom dear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy joys below, thy hopes above, | 8 | ········ |
| Speak--speak of anything but Love. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Twere long to tell, and vain to hear, | 8 | ········ |
| The tale of one who scorns a tear; | 8 | ········ |
| And there is little in that tale | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which better bosoms would bewail. | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| But mine has suffered more than well | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Twould suit philosophy to tell. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| I've seen my bride another's bride,-- | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Have seen her seated by his side,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Have seen the infant, which she bore, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wear the sweet smile the mother wore, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When she and I in youth have smiled, | 8 | ········ |
| As fond and faultless as her child;-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Have seen her eyes, in cold disdain, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Ask if I felt no secret pain; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And I have acted well my part, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And made my cheek belie my heart, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Returned the freezing glance she gave, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Yet felt the while that woman's slave;-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Have kissed, as if without design, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The babe which ought to have been mine, | 8 | ········ |
| And showed, alas! in each caress | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Time had not made me love the less. | 8 | ········ |
| But let this pass--I'll whine no more, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor seek again an eastern shore; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The world befits a busy brain,-- | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| I'll hie me to its haunts again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But if, in some succeeding year, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| When Britain's "May is in the sere," | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou hear'st of one, whose deepening crimes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Suit with the sablest of the times, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of one, whom love nor pity sways, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor hope of fame, nor good men's praise; | 8 | ········ |
| One, who in stern Ambition's pride, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Perchance not blood shall turn aside; | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| One ranked in some recording page | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| With the worst anarchs of the age, | 8 | ········ |
| Him wilt thou know--and knowing pause, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor with the effect forget the cause. | 9 | ···˘/˘/·· |
Notes from the edition 1
E. H. Coleridge's notes to The Works of Lord Byron, Poetry, Vol. III (John Murray, 1900; Project Gutenberg #21811). Bracketed passages are the editor's; unbracketed are Byron's own or earlier editors'. Lettered variant readings (manuscript and edition collations) are not harvested here, matching the treatment of Coleridge's Don Juan notes.
- Stanza 3, line 5 [Hodgson stipulated that the last twelve lines should be omitted, but Moore disregarded his wishes, and included the poem as it stands in his Life. A marginal note ran thus: "N.B. The poor dear soul meant nothing of this. F.H."--Memoir of Rev. Francis Hodgson, 1878, i. 212.]
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.