Stanzas to Augusta
When all around grew drear and dark,snAnd reason half withheld her ray--And Hope but shed a dying sparkWhich more misled my lonely way;In that deep midnight of the mind,And that internal strife of heart,When dreading to be deemed too kind,The weak despair--the cold depart;When Fortune changed--and Love fled far,soAnd Hatred's shafts flew thick and fast,Thou wert the solitary starspWhich rose and set not to the last.sqOh! blest be thine unbroken light!That watched me as a Seraph's eye,And stood between me and the night,For ever shining sweetly nigh.And when the cloud upon us came,srWhich strove to blacken o'er thy ray--ssThen purer spread its gentle flame,stAnd dashed the darkness all away.Still may thy Spirit dwell on mine,suAnd teach it what to brave or brook--There's more in one soft word of thineThan in the world's defied rebuke.Thou stood'st, as stands a lovely tree,svThat still unbroke, though gently bent,Still waves with fond fidelityIts boughs above a monument.The winds might rend--the skies might pour,But there thou wert--and still wouldst beDevoted in the stormiest hourTo shed thy weeping leaves o'er me.But thou and thine shall know no blight,Whatever fate on me may fall;For Heaven in sunshine will requiteThe kind--and thee the most of all.Then let the ties of baffled loveBe broken--thine will never break;Thy heart can feel--but will not move;Thy soul, though soft, will never shake.And these, when all was lost beside,Were found and still are fixed in thee:--And bearing still a breast so tried,Earth is no desert--ev'n to me.
Words in this poem
- drear n.
- Sadness; dismalness.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- 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,]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Stanzas to Augusta 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 to Augusta, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/stanzas-to-augusta.html, id L23989.
Form and metre
Stanzas to Augusta is 44 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See 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 -A-ABCBC----DEDE---------F-F-G-G-H-HIJIJKLKL dark,sn · rayA · spark · wayA · mindB · heartC · kindB · departC · far,so · fast · starsp · last.sq · lightD · eyeE · nightD · nighE · came,sr · — · flame,st · away · mine,su · brook · thine · rebuke · tree,sv · bentF · fidelity · monumentF · pour · beG · hour · meG · blight · fallH · requite · allH · loveI · breakJ · moveI · shakeJ · besideK · theeL · triedK · meL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| When all around grew drear and dark,sn | 9 | ········· |
| And reason half withheld her ray-- | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| And Hope but shed a dying spark | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Which more misled my lonely way; | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| In that deep midnight of the mind, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And that internal strife of heart, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| When dreading to be deemed too kind, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The weak despair--the cold depart; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| When Fortune changed--and Love fled far,so | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| And Hatred's shafts flew thick and fast, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Thou wert the solitary starsp | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Which rose and set not to the last.sq | 9 | ········· |
| Oh! blest be thine unbroken light! | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That watched me as a Seraph's eye, | 8 | ········ |
| And stood between me and the night, | 8 | ········ |
| For ever shining sweetly nigh. | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And when the cloud upon us came,sr | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Which strove to blacken o'er thy ray--ss | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Then purer spread its gentle flame,st | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| And dashed the darkness all away. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Still may thy Spirit dwell on mine,su | 8 | ···/···· |
| And teach it what to brave or brook-- | 8 | ········ |
| There's more in one soft word of thine | 8 | ········ |
| Than in the world's defied rebuke. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Thou stood'st, as stands a lovely tree,sv | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| That still unbroke, though gently bent, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Still waves with fond fidelity | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Its boughs above a monument. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| The winds might rend--the skies might pour, | 8 | ········ |
| But there thou wert--and still wouldst be | 8 | ········ |
| Devoted in the stormiest hour | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘/ |
| To shed thy weeping leaves o'er me. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But thou and thine shall know no blight, | 8 | ········ |
| Whatever fate on me may fall; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For Heaven in sunshine will requite | 9 | ·/˘·/··/˘ |
| The kind--and thee the most of all. | 8 | ········ |
| Then let the ties of baffled love | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Be broken--thine will never break; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thy heart can feel--but will not move; | 8 | ········ |
| Thy soul, though soft, will never shake. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And these, when all was lost beside, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Were found and still are fixed in thee:-- | 8 | ········ |
| And bearing still a breast so tried, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Earth is no desert--ev'n to me. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.