To Genevra
Thine eyes' blue tenderness, thy long fair hair,And the warm lustre of thy features--caughtFrom contemplation--where serenely wrought,Seems Sorrow's softness charmed from its despair--Have thrown such speaking sadness in thine air,That--but I know thy blessed bosom fraughtWith mines of unalloyed and stainless thought--I should have deemed thee doomed to earthly care.With such an aspect, by his colours blent,When from his beauty-breathing pencil born,(Except that thou hast nothing to repent)The Magdalen of Guido saw the morn--Such seem'st thou--but how much more excellent!With nought Remorse can claim--nor Virtue scorn.
Thy cheek is pale with thought, but not from woe,cfAnd yet so lovely, that if Mirth could flushIts rose of whiteness with the brightest blush,My heart would wish away that ruder glow:And dazzle not thy deep-blue eyes--but, oh!While gazing on them sterner eyes will gush,And into mine my mother's weakness rush,Soft as the last drops round Heaven's airy bow.For, through thy long dark lashes low depending,The soul of melancholy GentlenessGleams like a Seraph from the sky descending,Above all pain, yet pitying all distress;At once such majesty with sweetness blending,I worship more, but cannot love thee less.
Words in this poem 15
- lustre n.
- A period of five years; a lustrum. [L. lustrum: cf. F. lustre.]
- serenely adv.
- In a serene manner; clearly.
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- unalloyed a.
- Not alloyed; not reduced by foreign admixture; unmixed; unqualified; pure; as, unalloyed metals; unalloyed happiness.
- stainless a.
- Free from stain; immaculate.
- blent p. p.
- Blinded. Also (Chaucer), 3d sing. pres. Blindeth.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- magdalen n.
- A reformed prostitute. [From Mary Magdalene, traditionally reported to have been the repentant sinner forgiven by Christ. See Luke vii. 36.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- dazzle v. t.
- To overpower with light; to confuse the sight of by brilliance of light. [Freq. of daze.]
- sterner n.
- A director. Dr. R. Clerke. [See 3d Stern.]
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- blending n.
- The act of mingling.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Genevra 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 Genevra, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/to-genevra.html, id L23858.
Form and metre
To Genevra is 28 lines in 2 stanzas of 14 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABBAABBACDCDCD hairA · caughtB · wroughtB · despairA · airA · fraughtB · thoughtB · careA · blentC · bornD · repentC · mornD · excellentC · scornD
- 2 -AABBAABCDCDCD woe,cf · flushA · blushA · glowB · ohB · gushA · rushA · bowB · dependingC · gentlenessD · descendingC · distressD · blendingC · lessD
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Thine eyes' blue tenderness, thy long fair hair, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| And the warm lustre of thy features--caught | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| From contemplation--where serenely wrought, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Seems Sorrow's softness charmed from its despair-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Have thrown such speaking sadness in thine air, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| That--but I know thy blessed bosom fraught | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| With mines of unalloyed and stainless thought-- | 10 | ···˘/··/˘· |
| I should have deemed thee doomed to earthly care. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With such an aspect, by his colours blent, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| When from his beauty-breathing pencil born, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| (Except that thou hast nothing to repent) | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The Magdalen of Guido saw the morn-- | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Such seem'st thou--but how much more excellent! | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| With nought Remorse can claim--nor Virtue scorn. | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Thy cheek is pale with thought, but not from woe,cf | 11 | ··········· |
| And yet so lovely, that if Mirth could flush | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Its rose of whiteness with the brightest blush, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| My heart would wish away that ruder glow: | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And dazzle not thy deep-blue eyes--but, oh! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| While gazing on them sterner eyes will gush, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And into mine my mother's weakness rush, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Soft as the last drops round Heaven's airy bow. | 11 | ······/˘/˘· |
| For, through thy long dark lashes low depending, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| The soul of melancholy Gentleness | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Gleams like a Seraph from the sky descending, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| Above all pain, yet pitying all distress; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| At once such majesty with sweetness blending, | 11 | ···/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| I worship more, but cannot love thee less. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
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