TO THYRZA.t

Lord Byron (1788–1824) · 1816

iambic tetrameter · 56 lines · from The Giaour, and Other Poems

Without a stone to mark the spot,And say, what Truth might well have said,uBy all, save one, perchance forgot,Ah! wherefore art thou lowly laid?By many a shore and many a seavDivided, yet beloved in vain;The Past, the Future fled to thee,To bid us meet--no--ne'er again!Could this have been--a word, a look,That softly said, "We part in peace,"Had taught my bosom how to brook,With fainter sighs, thy soul's release.And didst thou not, since Death for theePrepared a light and pangless dart,Once long for him thou ne'er shalt see,Who held, and holds thee in his heart?Oh! who like him had watched thee here?Or sadly marked thy glazing eye,In that dread hour ere Death appear,When silent Sorrow fears to sigh,Till all was past? But when no more'Twas thine to reck of human woe,Affection's heart-drops, gushing o'er,Had flowed as fast--as now they flow.Shall they not flow, when many a daywIn these, to me, deserted towers,Ere called but for a time away,Affection's mingling tears were ours?Ours too the glance none saw beside;The smile none else might understand;The whispered thought of hearts allied,xThe pressure of the thrilling hand;The kiss, so guiltless and refined,That Love each warmer wish forbore;Those eyes proclaimed so pure a mind,Ev'n Passion blushed to plead for more.yThe tone, that taught me to rejoice,When prone, unlike thee, to repine;The song, celestial from thy voice,But sweet to me from none but thine;The pledge we wore--I wear it still,But where is thine?--Ah! where art thou?Oft have I borne the weight of ill,But never bent beneath till now!Well hast thou left in Life's best bloomzThe cup of Woe for me to drain.aaIf rest alone be in the tomb,I would not wish thee here again:But if in worlds more blest than thisThy virtues seek a fitter sphere,Impart some portion of thy bliss,To wean me from mine anguish here.Teach me--too early taught by thee!To bear, forgiving and forgiven:On earth thy love was such to me;It fain would form my hope in Heaven!ab

Words in this poem

wherefore adv.
For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
didst
, the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
pangless a.
Without a pang; painless.
shalt
2d per. sing. of Shall.
sadly adv.
Wearily; heavily; firmly.
reck v. t.
To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
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,]
thrilling a.
Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
guiltless a.
Free from guilt; innocent.
repine v. i.
To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
hast
, 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
fitter n.
A little piece; a flitter; a flinder.
forgiving a.
Disposed to forgive; inclined to overlook offenses; mild; merciful; compassionate; placable; as, a forgiving temper.
fain v. t.
To be glad ; to wish or desire.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

TO THYRZA.t 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 THYRZA.t, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/to-thyrza-t.html, id L23840.

Form and metre

TO THYRZA.t is 56 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).

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. 1 A-A-----BCBCDEDEFDFD-G-G-H-H-I-IJ-J-K-K-LMLM----NONOP-P- spotA · said,u · forgotA · laid · seav · vain · thee · again · lookB · peaceC · brookB · releaseC · theeD · dartE · seeD · heartE · hereF · eyeD · appearF · sighD · more · woeG · o'er · flowG · dayw · towersH · away · oursH · beside · understandI · allied,x · handI · refinedJ · forbore · mindJ · more.y · rejoiceK · repine · voiceK · thine · stillL · thouM · illL · nowM · bloomz · drain.aa · tomb · again · thisN · sphereO · blissN · hereO · theeP · forgiven · meP · heaven!ab
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.

LineSyl.Stress
Without a stone to mark the spot,8········
And say, what Truth might well have said,u9·········
By all, save one, perchance forgot,8····˘/˘/
Ah! wherefore art thou lowly laid?8·/˘··/˘·
By many a shore and many a seav8·/···/··
Divided, yet beloved in vain;8˘/˘·˘/··
The Past, the Future fled to thee,8···/˘···
To bid us meet--no--ne'er again!8······˘/
Could this have been--a word, a look,8········
That softly said, "We part in peace,"8·/˘·····
Had taught my bosom how to brook,8···/˘···
With fainter sighs, thy soul's release.8·/˘···˘/
And didst thou not, since Death for thee8········
Prepared a light and pangless dart,8˘/···/˘·
Once long for him thou ne'er shalt see,8········
Who held, and holds thee in his heart?8········
Oh! who like him had watched thee here?8········
Or sadly marked thy glazing eye,8·/˘··/˘·
In that dread hour ere Death appear,8···/··˘/
When silent Sorrow fears to sigh,8·/˘/˘···
Till all was past? But when no more8········
'Twas thine to reck of human woe,8·····/˘·
Affection's heart-drops, gushing o'er,8˘/˘··/˘·
Had flowed as fast--as now they flow.8········
Shall they not flow, when many a dayw8·····/··
In these, to me, deserted towers,9····˘/˘/˘
Ere called but for a time away,8······˘/
Affection's mingling tears were ours?8˘/˘/˘··/
Ours too the glance none saw beside;8/·····˘/
The smile none else might understand;8······˘/
The whispered thought of hearts allied,x9·/˘···˘/·
The pressure of the thrilling hand;8·/˘··/˘·
The kiss, so guiltless and refined,8···/˘·˘/
That Love each warmer wish forbore;8···/˘·˘/
Those eyes proclaimed so pure a mind,8··˘/····
Ev'n Passion blushed to plead for more.y9·/˘······
The tone, that taught me to rejoice,8······˘/
When prone, unlike thee, to repine;8··˘/··˘/
The song, celestial from thy voice,8··˘/˘···
But sweet to me from none but thine;8········
The pledge we wore--I wear it still,8········
But where is thine?--Ah! where art thou?8········
Oft have I borne the weight of ill,8········
But never bent beneath till now!8·/˘·····
Well hast thou left in Life's best bloomz8········
The cup of Woe for me to drain.aa9·········
If rest alone be in the tomb,8··˘/····
I would not wish thee here again:8······˘/
But if in worlds more blest than this8········
Thy virtues seek a fitter sphere,8·/˘··/˘·
Impart some portion of thy bliss,8˘/·/˘···
To wean me from mine anguish here.8·····/˘·
Teach me--too early taught by thee!8···/˘···
To bear, forgiving and forgiven:9··˘/˘·˘/˘
On earth thy love was such to me;8········
It fain would form my hope in Heaven!ab9·······/·

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.

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