Stanzas for Music
"O Lachrymarum fons, tenero sacrosDucentium ortus ex animo: quaterFelix! in imo qui scatentemPectore te, pia Nympha, sensit."Gray's Poemata.
There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away,When the glow of early thought declines in Feeling's dull decay;'Tis not on Youth's smooth cheek the blush alone, which fadesso fast,niBut the tender bloom of heart is gone, ere Youth itself be past.
Then the few whose spirits float above the wreck of happinessAre driven o'er the shoals of guilt or ocean of excess:The magnet of their course is gone, or only points in vainThe shore to which their shivered sail shall never stretch again.
Then the mortal coldness of the soul like Death itself comes down;It cannot feel for others' woes, it dare not dream its own;That heavy chill has frozen o'er the fountain of our tears,And though the eye may sparkle still, 'tis where the ice appears.
Though wit may flash from fluent lips, and mirth distract the breast,Through midnight hours that yield no more their former hope of rest;'Tis but as ivy-leaves around the ruined turret wreathnjAll green and wildly fresh without, but worn and grey beneath.
Oh, could I feel as I have felt,--or be what I have been,Or weep as I could once have wept, o'er many a vanished scene;As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be,So, midst the withered waste of life, those tears would flow to me.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- distract a.
- Separated; drawn asunder. [L. distractus, p. p. of distrahere to draw asunder; dis- + trahere to draw. See Trace, and cf. Distraught.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas for Music 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, Stanzas for Music, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/stanzas-for-music-2.html, id L23975.
Form and metre
Stanzas for Music is 26 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
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.
- 2 AA--- awayA · decayA · fades · fast,ni · past
- 3 AABB happinessA · excessA · vainB · againB
- 4 --AA down · own · tearsA · appearsA
- 5 AA-- breastA · restA · wreathnj · beneath
- 6 --AA been · scene · beA · meA
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 heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "O Lachrymarum fons, tenero sacros | 11 | ··········· |
| Ducentium ortus ex animo: quater | 11 | ··········· |
| Felix! in imo qui scatentem | 9 | /˘·/˘···· |
| Pectore te, pia Nympha, sensit." | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| Gray's Poemata. | 4 | ···· |
| There's not a joy the world can give like that it takes away, | 14 | ············˘/ |
| When the glow of early thought declines in Feeling's dull decay; | 15 | ····/˘·˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| 'Tis not on Youth's smooth cheek the blush alone, which fades | 12 | ········˘/·· |
| so fast,ni | 3 | ··· |
| But the tender bloom of heart is gone, ere Youth itself be past. | 15 | ··/˘·······˘/·· |
| Then the few whose spirits float above the wreck of happiness | 15 | ····/˘······/˘˘ |
| Are driven o'er the shoals of guilt or ocean of excess: | 14 | ·/˘······/˘·˘/ |
| The magnet of their course is gone, or only points in vain | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| The shore to which their shivered sail shall never stretch again. | 14 | ·····/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Then the mortal coldness of the soul like Death itself comes down; | 15 | ··/˘/˘·····˘/·· |
| It cannot feel for others' woes, it dare not dream its own; | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| That heavy chill has frozen o'er the fountain of our tears, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/˘·/· |
| And though the eye may sparkle still, 'tis where the ice appears. | 14 | ·····/˘·····˘/ |
| Though wit may flash from fluent lips, and mirth distract the breast, | 14 | ·····/˘···˘/·· |
| Through midnight hours that yield no more their former hope of rest; | 14 | ·/·/·····/˘··· |
| 'Tis but as ivy-leaves around the ruined turret wreathnj | 14 | ···/˘····/˘/˘· |
| All green and wildly fresh without, but worn and grey beneath. | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| Oh, could I feel as I have felt,--or be what I have been, | 14 | ·············· |
| Or weep as I could once have wept, o'er many a vanished scene; | 14 | ·········/·/˘· |
| As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be, | 14 | ···/˘····/˘··· |
| So, midst the withered waste of life, those tears would flow to me. | 14 | ···/˘········· |
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