Newstead Abbey
In the dome of my Sires as the clear moonbeam fallsThrough Silence and Shade o'er its desolate walls,It shines from afar like the glories of old;It gilds, but it warms not--'tis dazzling, but cold.
Let the Sunbeam be bright for the younger of days:'Tis the light that should shine on a race that decays,When the Stars are on high and the dews on the ground,And the long shadow lingers the ruin around.
And the step that o'erechoes the gray floor of stoneFalls sullenly now, for 'tis only my own;And sunk are the voices that sounded in mirth,And empty the goblet, and dreary the hearth.
And vain was each effort to raise and recallThe brightness of old to illumine our Hall;And vain was the hope to avert our decline,And the fate of my fathers had faded to mine.
And theirs was the wealth and the fulness of Fame,And mine to inherit too haughty a name;rAnd theirs were the times and the triumphs of yore,And mine to regret, but renew them no more.
And Ruin is fixed on my tower and my wall,Too hoary to fade, and too massy to fall;It tells not of Time's or the tempest's decay,sBut the wreck of the line that have held it in sway.
Words in this poem
- moonbeam n.
- A ray of light from the moon.
- 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.]
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- hoary a.
- White or whitish."The hoary willows."
- massy a.
- Compacted into, or consisting of, a mass; having bulk and weight ot substance; ponderous; bulky and heavy; weight; heavy; as, a massy shield; a massy rock.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Newstead Abbey 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, Newstead Abbey, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/newstead-abbey.html, id L23839.
Form and metre
Newstead Abbey is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABB fallsA · wallsA · oldB · coldB
- 2 AABB daysA · decaysA · groundB · aroundB
- 3 AABB stoneA · ownA · mirthB · hearthB
- 4 AABB recallA · hallA · declineB · mineB
- 5 --AA fame · name;r · yoreA · moreA
- 6 AA-- wallA · fallA · decay,s · sway
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| In the dome of my Sires as the clear moonbeam falls | 12 | ·········/·· |
| Through Silence and Shade o'er its desolate walls, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| It shines from afar like the glories of old; | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| It gilds, but it warms not--'tis dazzling, but cold. | 12 | ·······/˘˘·· |
| Let the Sunbeam be bright for the younger of days: | 12 | ··/·····/˘·· |
| 'Tis the light that should shine on a race that decays, | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| When the Stars are on high and the dews on the ground, | 12 | ············ |
| And the long shadow lingers the ruin around. | 12 | ···/·/˘·/˘·· |
| And the step that o'erechoes the gray floor of stone | 11 | ··········· |
| Falls sullenly now, for 'tis only my own; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And sunk are the voices that sounded in mirth, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| And empty the goblet, and dreary the hearth. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| And vain was each effort to raise and recall | 11 | ····/˘···˘/ |
| The brightness of old to illumine our Hall; | 12 | ·/˘···˘/˘/˘· |
| And vain was the hope to avert our decline, | 12 | ······˘//˘˘/ |
| And the fate of my fathers had faded to mine. | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘·· |
| And theirs was the wealth and the fulness of Fame, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And mine to inherit too haughty a name;r | 12 | ···˘/˘·/˘··· |
| And theirs were the times and the triumphs of yore, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| And mine to regret, but renew them no more. | 11 | ···˘/·˘/··· |
| And Ruin is fixed on my tower and my wall, | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| Too hoary to fade, and too massy to fall; | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| It tells not of Time's or the tempest's decay,s | 12 | ·······/˘˘/· |
| But the wreck of the line that have held it in sway. | 12 | ············ |
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.