Laurel · William Collins · Ode to Evening, and Other Poems

Agib and Secander; Or, the Fugitives

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 76 lines · from Ode to Evening, and Other Poems

SCENE, A mountain in Circassia.TIME, Midnight.

In fair Circassia, where, to love inclined,Each swain was blest, for every maid was kind;At that still hour, when awful midnight reigns,And none, but wretches, haunt the twilight plains;What time the moon had hung her lamp on high,And past in radiance through the cloudless sky;Sad, o'er the dews, two brother shepherds fled,Where wildering fear and desperate sorrow led:Fast as they press'd their flight, behind them layWide ravaged plains, and valleys stole away:Along the mountain's bending sides they ran,Till, faint and weak, Secander thus began.

O stay thee, Agib, for my feet deny,No longer friendly to my life, to fly.Friend of my heart, O turn thee and survey!Trace our sad flight through all its length of wayAnd first review that long extended plain,And yon wide groves, already past with pain!Yon ragged cliff, whose dangerous path we tried!And, last, this lofty mountain's weary side!

Weak as thou art, yet, hapless, must thou knowThe toils of flight, or some severer woe!Still, as I haste, the Tartar shouts behind,And shrieks and sorrows load the saddening wind:In rage of heart, with ruin in his hand,He blasts our harvests, and deforms our land.Yon citron grove, whence first in fear we came,Droops its fair honors to the conquering flame:Far fly the swains, like us, in deep despair,And leave to ruffian bands their fleecy care.

Unhappy land, whose blessings tempt the sword,In vain, unheard, thou call'st thy Persian lord!In vain thou court'st him, helpless, to thine aid,To shield the shepherd, and protect the maid!Far off, in thoughtless indolence resign'd,Soft dreams of love and pleasure soothe his mind:'Midst fair sultanas lost in idle joy,No wars alarm him, and no fears annoy.

Yet these green hills, in summer's sultry heat,Have lent the monarch oft a cool retreat.Sweet to the sight is Zabran's flowery plain,And once by maids and shepherds loved in vain!No more the virgins shall delight to roveBy Sargis' banks, or Irwan's shady grove;On Tarkie's mountain catch the cooling gale,Or breathe the sweets of Aly's flowery vale:Fair scenes! but, ah! no more with peace possest,With ease alluring, and with plenty blest!No more the shepherds' whitening tents appear,Nor the kind products of a bounteous year;No more the date, with snowy blossoms crown'd!But ruin spreads her baleful fires around.

In vain Circassia boasts her spicy groves,For ever famed for pure and happy loves:In vain she boasts her fairest of the fair,Their eyes' blue languish, and their golden hair!Those eyes in tears their fruitless grief must send;Those hairs the Tartar's cruel hand shall rend.

Ye Georgian swains, that piteous learn from farCircassia's ruin, and the waste of war;Some weightier arms than crooks and staves prepare,To shield your harvests, and defend your fair:The Turk and Tartar like designs pursue,Fix'd to destroy, and steadfast to undo.Wild as his land, in native deserts bred,By lust incited, or by malice led,The villain Arab, as he prowls for prey,Oft marks with blood and wasting flames the way;Yet none so cruel as the Tartar foe,To death inured, and nurst in scenes of woe.

He said; when loud along the vale was heardA shriller shriek, and nearer fires appear'd:The affrighted shepherds, through the dews of night,Wide o'er the moonlight hills renew'd their flight.

Words in this poem 20

cloudless a.: Without a cloud; clear; bright.
wildering n.: A plant growing in a state of nature; especially, one which has run wild, or escaped from cultivation.
desperate a.: Without hope; given to despair; hopeless. [L. desperatus, p. p. of desperare. See Despair, and cf. Desperado.]
stole n.: A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
hapless a.: Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
fleecy a.: Covered with, made of, or resembling, a fleece.
unheard a.: Not heard; not perceived by the ear; as, words unheard by those present.
indolence n.: Freedom from that which pains, or harasses, as toil, care, grief, etc. [L. indolentia freedom from pain: cf. F. indolence.]
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.]
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,]
cooling a.: Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
vale n.: A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
whitening n.: The act or process of making or becoming white.
bounteous a.: Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
snowy a.: White like snow.
languish v. i.: To cause to dr Shak.
fruitless a.: Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
georgian a.: Of or pertaining to Georgia, in Asia, or to Georgia, one of the United States.
turk n.: A member of any of numerous Tartar tribes of Central Asia, etc.; esp., one of the dominant race in Turkey. [Per. Turk; probably of Tartar origin: cf. F. Turc.]
lust v. i.: To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]

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

About this text

Agib and Secander; Or, the Fugitives is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Collins; With a Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #29879; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: William Collins, Agib and Secander; Or, the Fugitives, in Ode to Evening, and Other Poems (1746), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29879, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/collins-poems/agib-and-secander-or-the-fugitives.html, id L13341.

Form and metre

Agib and Secander; Or, the Fugitives is 76 lines in 9 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 92% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in heroic couplets, 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.

2 AABBCCDDEEFF inclined^A · kind^A · reigns^B · plains^B · high^C · sky^C · fled^D · led^D · lay^E · away^E · ran^F · began^F
3 AABBCCDD deny^A · fly^A · survey^B · way^B · plain^C · pain^C · tried^D · side^D
4 AABBCCDDEE know^A · woe^A · behind^B · wind^B · hand^C · land^C · came^D · flame^D · despair^E · care^E
5 AABBCCDD sword^A · lord^A · aid^B · maid^B · resign'd^C · mind^C · joy^D · annoy^D
6 AABBCCDDEEFFGG heat^A · retreat^A · plain^B · vain^B · rove^C · grove^C · gale^D · vale^D · possest^E · blest^E · appear^F · year^F · crown'd^G · around^G
7 --AABB groves · loves · fair^A · hair^A · send^B · rend^B
8 AABBCCDDEEFF far^A · war^A · prepare^B · fair^B · pursue^C · undo^C · bred^D · led^D · prey^E · way^E · foe^F · woe^F
9 --AA heard · appear'd · night^A · flight^A

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
SCENE, A mountain in Circassia.	8	··/˘····
TIME, Midnight.	3	·/·
In fair Circassia, where, to love inclined,	10	········˘/
Each swain was blest, for every maid was kind;	10	·····/˘···
At that still hour, when awful midnight reigns,	10	···/·/˘/··
And none, but wretches, haunt the twilight plains;	10	·······/··
What time the moon had hung her lamp on high,	10	··········
And past in radiance through the cloudless sky;	10	···/˘··/˘·
Sad, o'er the dews, two brother shepherds fled,	10	·····/˘/˘·
Where wildering fear and desperate sorrow led:	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
Fast as they press'd their flight, behind them lay	10	··········
Wide ravaged plains, and valleys stole away:	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
Along the mountain's bending sides they ran,	10	˘/·/˘/˘···
Till, faint and weak, Secander thus began.	10	········˘/
O stay thee, Agib, for my feet deny,	10	········˘/
No longer friendly to my life, to fly.	10	·/˘/˘·····
Friend of my heart, O turn thee and survey!	10	········˘/
Trace our sad flight through all its length of way	10	·/········
And first review that long extended plain,	10	···/··˘/˘·
And yon wide groves, already past with pain!	10	····˘/˘···
Yon ragged cliff, whose dangerous path we tried!	10	·/˘··/˘···
And, last, this lofty mountain's weary side!	10	···/˘/˘/˘·
Weak as thou art, yet, hapless, must thou know	10	·····/˘···
The toils of flight, or some severer woe!	10	··········
Still, as I haste, the Tartar shouts behind,	10	·····/˘···
And shrieks and sorrows load the saddening wind:	10	···/˘··/˘·
In rage of heart, with ruin in his hand,	10	·····/˘···
He blasts our harvests, and deforms our land.	10	··//˘··//·
Yon citron grove, whence first in fear we came,	10	·/˘·······
Droops its fair honors to the conquering flame:	10	···/˘··/˘·
Far fly the swains, like us, in deep despair,	10	········˘/
And leave to ruffian bands their fleecy care.	10	···/˘··/˘·
Unhappy land, whose blessings tempt the sword,	10	˘/˘··/˘···
In vain, unheard, thou call'st thy Persian lord!	10	··˘/···/˘·
In vain thou court'st him, helpless, to thine aid,	10	·····/˘···
To shield the shepherd, and protect the maid!	10	···/˘·˘/··
Far off, in thoughtless indolence resign'd,	10	···/˘/˘˘˘/
Soft dreams of love and pleasure soothe his mind:	10	·····/˘···
'Midst fair sultanas lost in idle joy,	10	·······/˘·
No wars alarm him, and no fears annoy.	10	··˘/····˘/
Yet these green hills, in summer's sultry heat,	10	·····/˘/˘·
Have lent the monarch oft a cool retreat.	10	···/····˘/
Sweet to the sight is Zabran's flowery plain,	10	·······/˘·
And once by maids and shepherds loved in vain!	10	·····/˘···
No more the virgins shall delight to rove	10	···/˘·˘/··
By Sargis' banks, or Irwan's shady grove;	10	·/˘····/˘·
On Tarkie's mountain catch the cooling gale,	9	··/˘··/˘·
Or breathe the sweets of Aly's flowery vale:	10	·····/˘/˘·
Fair scenes! but, ah! no more with peace possest,	10	········/˘
With ease alluring, and with plenty blest!	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
No more the shepherds' whitening tents appear,	10	···/˘/˘·˘/
Nor the kind products of a bounteous year;	11	···/˘··/˘˘·
No more the date, with snowy blossoms crown'd!	10	·····/˘/˘·
But ruin spreads her baleful fires around.	10	·/··/˘/˘··
In vain Circassia boasts her spicy groves,	10	·······/˘·
For ever famed for pure and happy loves:	10	·/˘····/˘·
In vain she boasts her fairest of the fair,	10	·····/˘···
Their eyes' blue languish, and their golden hair!	10	···/˘··/˘·
Those eyes in tears their fruitless grief must send;	10	·····/˘···
Those hairs the Tartar's cruel hand shall rend.	10	···/˘/˘···
Ye Georgian swains, that piteous learn from far	11	·/˘··/˘˘···
Circassia's ruin, and the waste of war;	10	···/˘·····
Some weightier arms than crooks and staves prepare,	10	········˘/
To shield your harvests, and defend your fair:	10	···/˘·˘/··
The Turk and Tartar like designs pursue,	10	···/˘·˘/˘/
Fix'd to destroy, and steadfast to undo.	10	··˘/·/··˘/
Wild as his land, in native deserts bred,	10	·····/˘/˘·
By lust incited, or by malice led,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
The villain Arab, as he prowls for prey,	10	·/˘/˘·····
Oft marks with blood and wasting flames the way;	10	·····/˘···
Yet none so cruel as the Tartar foe,	10	···/˘··/˘·
To death inured, and nurst in scenes of woe.	10	··˘/······
He said; when loud along the vale was heard	10	····˘/····
A shriller shriek, and nearer fires appear'd:	10	·····/˘/˘/
The affrighted shepherds, through the dews of night,	11	····/˘·····
Wide o'er the moonlight hills renew'd their flight.	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.

More by William Collins

Ode to Evening, and Other Poems