On the Day of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus
From the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome,mgI beheld thee, oh Sion! when rendered to Rome:mh'Twas thy last sun went down, and the flames of thy fallFlashed back on the last glance I gave to thy wall.
I looked for thy temple--I looked for my home,And forgot for a moment my bondage to come;miI beheld but the death-fire that fed on thy fane,And the fast-fettered hands that made vengeance in vain.
On many an eve, the high spot whence I gazedHad reflected the last beam of day as it blazed;While I stood on the height, and beheld the declineOf the rays from the mountain that shone on thy shrine.
And now on that mountain I stood on that day,But I marked not the twilight beam melting away;Oh! would that the lightning had glared in its stead,And the thunderbolt burst on the Conqueror's head!mj
But the Gods of the Pagan shall never profaneThe shrine where Jehovah disdained not to reign;And scattered and scorned as thy people may be,Our worship, oh Father! is only for thee.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- fettered a.
- Seeming as if fettered, as the feet pf certain animals which bend backward, and appear unfit for walking.
- thunderbolt n.
- A shaft of lightning; a brilliant stream of electricity passing from one part of the heavens to another, or from the clouds to the earth.
- 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
On the Day of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus 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, On the Day of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/on-the-day-of-the-destruction-of-jerusalem-by-titus.html, id L23961.
Form and metre
On the Day of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABB. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 dome,mgA · rome:mhA · fallB · wallB
- 2 AABB homeA · come;miA · faneB · vainB
- 3 AABB gazedA · blazedA · declineB · shrineB
- 4 AABB dayA · awayA · steadB · head!mjB
- 5 AABB profaneA · reignA · beB · theeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| From the last hill that looks on thy once holy dome,mg | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| I beheld thee, oh Sion! when rendered to Rome:mh | 13 | ·˘/····/˘··// |
| 'Twas thy last sun went down, and the flames of thy fall | 12 | ············ |
| Flashed back on the last glance I gave to thy wall. | 12 | ·˘·········· |
| I looked for thy temple--I looked for my home, | 12 | ··˘··/˘····· |
| And forgot for a moment my bondage to come;mi | 13 | ·˘/··/˘·/˘··· |
| I beheld but the death-fire that fed on thy fane, | 12 | ·˘/···/····· |
| And the fast-fettered hands that made vengeance in vain. | 12 | ···/˘···/˘·· |
| On many an eve, the high spot whence I gazed | 12 | ·/˘········˘ |
| Had reflected the last beam of day as it blazed; | 12 | ·˘/˘········ |
| While I stood on the height, and beheld the decline | 12 | ·······˘/·˘/ |
| Of the rays from the mountain that shone on thy shrine. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| And now on that mountain I stood on that day, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| But I marked not the twilight beam melting away; | 12 | ·····/··/˘˘/ |
| Oh! would that the lightning had glared in its stead, | 12 | ····/˘··˘··· |
| And the thunderbolt burst on the Conqueror's head!mj | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| But the Gods of the Pagan shall never profane | 12 | ·····/˘·/˘˘/ |
| The shrine where Jehovah disdained not to reign; | 12 | ···˘/˘˘/˘··· |
| And scattered and scorned as thy people may be, | 12 | ·/˘˘····/˘·· |
| Our worship, oh Father! is only for thee. | 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.