Prefatory Memoir
In 1820 Colbourne offered him the editorship of the New MonthlyMagazine, which he accepted and retained till 1830, at a salary of £500per annum. His sub-editor—a very efficient one—was Mr. Cyrus Redding.
Campbell was a pleasant companion, and when he pleased could (we haveByron’s authority for it) talk delightfully; but he was occasionallyabsent and silent. His poetry is much admired by foreigners. Madame deStaël was enraptured with the Pleasures of Hope, and Goethe was a warmadmirer of the Poet.
To this collection of his poems we have added his Lines on MarieAntoinette, the Dirge of Wallace, and one or two other poems,published in the New Monthly Magazine.
Words in this poem
- editorship n.
- The office or charge of an editor; care and superintendence of a publication.
- admired a.
- Regarded with wonder and delight; highly prized; as, an admired poem.
- madame n.
- My lady; -- a French title formerly given to ladies of quality; now, in France, given to all married women. [F., fr. ma my (L. mea) + dame dame. See Dame, and cf. Madonna.]
- dirge n.
- A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn. [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in c]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Prefatory Memoir is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, Project Gutenberg ebook #59788; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campbell, Prefatory Memoir, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/prefatory-memoir.html, id L24396.
Form and metre
Prefatory Memoir is 11 lines in 3 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In 1820 Colbourne offered him the editorship of the New Monthly | 15 | ···/˘··/˘····/˘ |
| Magazine, which he accepted and retained till 1830, at a salary of £500 | 17 | /˘···˘/˘·˘/···/˘· |
| per annum. His sub-editor—a very efficient one—was Mr. Cyrus Redding. | 21 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘˘/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| Campbell was a pleasant companion, and when he pleased could (we have | 16 | /˘··/˘˘/˘······· |
| Byron’s authority for it) talk delightfully; but he was occasionally | 17 | /˘˘/˘···˘/˘···˘/˘ |
| absent and silent. His poetry is much admired by foreigners. Madame de | 18 | /˘·/˘·/˘··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Staël was enraptured with the Pleasures of Hope, and Goethe was a warm | 16 | ··˘/˘··/˘······· |
| admirer of the Poet. | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| To this collection of his poems we have added his Lines on Marie | 18 | ··˘/˘··/˘··/˘···˘/ |
| Antoinette, the Dirge of Wallace, and one or two other poems, | 16 | ·˘/···/˘····/˘/˘ |
| published in the New Monthly Magazine. | 10 | /˘···/˘/˘· |
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.