To Florence
Oh Lady! when I left the shore,The distant shore which gave me birth,I hardly thought to grieve once more,To quit another spot on earth:
Yet here, amidst this barren isle,Where panting Nature droops the head,Where only thou art seen to smile,I view my parting hour with dread.
Though far from Albin's craggy shore,Divided by the dark-blue main;A few, brief, rolling seasons o'er,Perchance I view her cliffs again:
But wheresoe'er I now may roam,Through scorching clime, and varied sea,Though Time restore me to my home,I ne'er shall bend mine eyes on thee:
On thee, in whom at once conspireAll charms which heedless hearts can move,Whom but to see is to admire,And, oh! forgive the word--to love.
Forgive the word, in one who ne'erWith such a word can more offend;And since thy heart I cannot share,Believe me, what I am, thy friend.
And who so cold as look on thee,Thou lovely wand'rer, and be less?Nor be, what man should ever be,The friend of Beauty in distress?
Ah! who would think that form had pastThrough Danger's most destructive path,gHad braved the death-winged tempest's blast,And 'scaped a Tyrant's fiercer wrath?
Lady! when I shall view the wallsWhere free Byzantium once arose,And Stamboul's Oriental hallsThe Turkish tyrants now enclose;
Though mightiest in the lists of fame,That glorious city still shall be;On me 'twill hold a dearer claim,As spot of thy nativity:
And though I bid thee now farewell,When I behold that wondrous scene--Since where thou art I may not dwell--'Twill soothe to be where thou hast been.
Words in this poem
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- scorching a.
- Burning; parching or shriveling with heat.
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- 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,]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- enclose v. t.
- To inclose. See Inclose. [F. enclos, p. p. of enclore to enclose; pref. en- (L. in) + clore to close. See Close, and cf. Inclose, Include.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- 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]
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Florence 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, To Florence, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/to-florence-f.html, id L23827.
Form and metre
To Florence is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 11 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABAB shoreA · birthB · moreA · earthB
- 2 ABAB isleA · headB · smileA · dreadB
- 3 ABAB shoreA · mainB · o'erA · againB
- 4 ABAB roamA · seaB · homeA · theeB
- 5 -A-A conspire · moveA · admire · loveA
- 6 ABAB ne'erA · offendB · shareA · friendB
- 7 ABAB theeA · lessB · beA · distressB
- 8 ABAB pastA · path,gB · blastA · wrathB
- 9 ABAB wallsA · aroseB · hallsA · encloseB
- 10 ABAB fameA · beB · claimA · nativityB
- 11 ABAB farewellA · sceneB · dwellA · beenB
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 Lady! when I left the shore, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The distant shore which gave me birth, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I hardly thought to grieve once more, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To quit another spot on earth: | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Yet here, amidst this barren isle, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Where panting Nature droops the head, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Where only thou art seen to smile, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I view my parting hour with dread. | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Though far from Albin's craggy shore, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Divided by the dark-blue main; | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| A few, brief, rolling seasons o'er, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Perchance I view her cliffs again: | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| But wheresoe'er I now may roam, | 8 | ········ |
| Through scorching clime, and varied sea, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though Time restore me to my home, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| I ne'er shall bend mine eyes on thee: | 8 | ········ |
| On thee, in whom at once conspire | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| All charms which heedless hearts can move, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whom but to see is to admire, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And, oh! forgive the word--to love. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Forgive the word, in one who ne'er | 8 | ˘/······ |
| With such a word can more offend; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And since thy heart I cannot share, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Believe me, what I am, thy friend. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| And who so cold as look on thee, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou lovely wand'rer, and be less? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor be, what man should ever be, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The friend of Beauty in distress? | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Ah! who would think that form had past | 8 | ········ |
| Through Danger's most destructive path,g | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘·· |
| Had braved the death-winged tempest's blast, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And 'scaped a Tyrant's fiercer wrath? | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Lady! when I shall view the walls | 8 | /˘······ |
| Where free Byzantium once arose, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| And Stamboul's Oriental halls | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The Turkish tyrants now enclose; | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Though mightiest in the lists of fame, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That glorious city still shall be; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| On me 'twill hold a dearer claim, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As spot of thy nativity: | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| And though I bid thee now farewell, | 8 | ·······/ |
| When I behold that wondrous scene-- | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Since where thou art I may not dwell-- | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twill soothe to be where thou hast been. | 8 | ········ |
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