To Boscán, from Goletta XXXI
I thank thee, Heaven, that I have snapt in twainThe heavy yoke that on my neck I wore,And that at length I can behold from shore,Void of all fear, the black tempestuous main;Can see, suspended by a slender chain,The life of lovers who enchanted restIn error, slumbering upon Beauty's breast,To warning deaf, and blinded to their bane.So shall I smile when mortals are undone,Nor yet be found so cruel to my kindAs may appear,--I shall but smile as oneTo health restored, whom sickness long confined,Not to see others suffering, but to seeMyself from similar afflictions free.
Words in this poem
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- 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,]
- undone a.
- Not done or performed; neglected. [Pref. un- not + done.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Boscán, from Goletta XXXI is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Garcilasso de la Vega, Project Gutenberg ebook #49410, the J. H. Wiffen translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Garcilaso de la Vega, To Boscán, from Goletta XXXI, in The Works of Garcilasso de la Vega (1823), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49410, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/garcilaso-works/to-bosc-n-from-goletta-xxxi.html, id L18728.
Form and metre
To Boscán, from Goletta XXXI is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAACCADEDEFF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 36% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBAACCADEDEFF twainA · woreB · shoreB · mainA · chainA · restC · breastC · baneA · undoneD · kindE · oneD · confinedE · seeF · freeF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I thank thee, Heaven, that I have snapt in twain | 10 | ···/······ |
| The heavy yoke that on my neck I wore, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And that at length I can behold from shore, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Void of all fear, the black tempestuous main; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Can see, suspended by a slender chain, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| The life of lovers who enchanted rest | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| In error, slumbering upon Beauty's breast, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| To warning deaf, and blinded to their bane. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| So shall I smile when mortals are undone, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Nor yet be found so cruel to my kind | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| As may appear,--I shall but smile as one | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| To health restored, whom sickness long confined, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Not to see others suffering, but to see | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Myself from similar afflictions free. | 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.