Bernardo Tasso
This green recess, where through the bowery gloomNe’er, e’en at noontide hours, the sunbeam play’d,Where violet-beds in soft luxuriance bloomMidst the cool freshness of the myrtle shade;Where through the grass a sparkling fountain steals,Whose murmuring wave, transparent as it flows,No more its bed of yellow sand concealsThan the pure crystal hides the glowing rose;This bower of peace, thou soother of our care,God of soft slumbers and of visions fair!A lowly shepherd consecrates to thee!Then breathe around some spell of deep repose,And charm his eyes in balmy dew to close,Those eyes, fatigued with grief, from tear-drops never free.
Words in this poem
- bowery a.
- Shading, like a bower; full of bowers.
- noontide n.
- The time of noon; midday. [From noon + tide time; cf. AS. n the ninth hour.]
- sunbeam n.
- A beam or ray of the sun. [AS. sunnebeam.]
- luxuriance n.
- The state or quality of being luxuriant; rank, vigorous growth; excessive abundance produced by rank growth. [Cf. F. luxuriance.]
- soother n.
- One who, or that which, soothes.
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bernardo Tasso is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Felicia Hemans, Project Gutenberg ebook #66785; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Felicia Hemans, Bernardo Tasso, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/bernardo-tasso.html, id L13458.
Form and metre
Bernardo Tasso is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEEFDDF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 21% 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 ABABCDCDEEFDDF gloomA · play'dB · bloomA · shadeB · stealsC · flowsD · concealsC · roseD · careE · fairE · theeF · reposeD · closeD · 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 |
|---|---|---|
| This green recess, where through the bowery gloom | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| Ne’er, e’en at noontide hours, the sunbeam play’d, | 10 | ···/˘/·/·· |
| Where violet-beds in soft luxuriance bloom | 11 | ·/˘···˘/˘˘· |
| Midst the cool freshness of the myrtle shade; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Where through the grass a sparkling fountain steals, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Whose murmuring wave, transparent as it flows, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| No more its bed of yellow sand conceals | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Than the pure crystal hides the glowing rose; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| This bower of peace, thou soother of our care, | 10 | ·/···/˘·/· |
| God of soft slumbers and of visions fair! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A lowly shepherd consecrates to thee! | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Then breathe around some spell of deep repose, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And charm his eyes in balmy dew to close, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Those eyes, fatigued with grief, from tear-drops never free. | 11 | ··˘/·····/· |
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.