Song of Hybrias the Cretan
My wealth’s a burly spear and brand,And a right good shield of hides untanned,Which on my arm I buckle:With these I plough, I reap, I sow,With these I make the sweet vintage flow,And all around me truckle.
But your wights that take no pride to wieldA massy spear and well-made shield,Nor joy to draw the sword:Oh, I bring those heartless, hapless drones,Down in a trice on their marrow-bones,To call me King and Lord.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- truckle n.
- A small wheel or caster. Hudibras. [Dim. of truck a wheel; or from the kindred L. trochlea a block, sheaf containing one or more pulleys. See Truck a wheel.]
- wield v. t.
- To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
- massy a.
- Compacted into, or consisting of, a mass; having bulk and weight ot substance; ponderous; bulky and heavy; weight; heavy; as, a massy shield; a massy rock.
- heartless a.
- Without a heart.
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- trice v. t.
- To pull; to haul; to drag; to pull away. [OE. trisen; of Scand. or Low German origin; cf. Sw. trissa a sheave, pulley, triss a spritsail brace, Dan. tridse a pulley, tridse to haul by means of a pulley,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of Hybrias the Cretan 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, Song of Hybrias the Cretan, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/song-of-hybrias-the-cretan.html, id L24467.
Form and metre
Song of Hybrias the Cretan is 12 lines in 2 stanzas of 6 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCB. 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.
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 AABCCB brandA · untannedA · buckleB · sowC · flowC · truckleB
- 2 AABCCB wieldA · shieldA · swordB · dronesC · bonesC · lordB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My wealth’s a burly spear and brand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And a right good shield of hides untanned, | 10 | ·········˘ |
| Which on my arm I buckle: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| With these I plough, I reap, I sow, | 8 | ········ |
| With these I make the sweet vintage flow, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And all around me truckle. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But your wights that take no pride to wield | 9 | ········· |
| A massy spear and well-made shield, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Nor joy to draw the sword: | 6 | ······ |
| Oh, I bring those heartless, hapless drones, | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| Down in a trice on their marrow-bones, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| To call me King and Lord. | 6 | ······ |
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.