Naples: A Song of the Syren
“Then gentle winds arose,With many a mingled closeOf wild Æolian sound and mountain-odour keen,Where the clear Baian oceanWelters with air-like motionWithin, above, around its bowers of starry green.”Shelley.
Still is the Syren warbling on thy shore,Bright city of the waves! Her magic songStill, with a dreamy sense of ecstasy,Fills thy soft summer air:--and while my glanceDwells on thy pictured loveliness, that layFloats thus o’er fancy’s ear; and thus to thee,Daughter of sunshine! doth the Syren sing.
“Thine is the glad wave’s flashing play,Thine is the laugh of the golden day--The golden day, and the glorious night,And the vine with its clusters all bathed in light!--Forget, forget, that thou art not free!Queen of the Summer sea.
“Favour’d and crown’d of the earth and sky!Thine are all voices of melody,Wandering in moonlight through fane and tower,Floating o’er fountain and myrtle bower;Hark! how they melt o’er thy glittering sea--Forget that thou art not free!
“Let the wine flow in thy marble halls!Let the lute answer thy fountain-falls!And deck thy feasts with the myrtle bough,And cover with roses thy glowing brow!Queen of the day and the summer sea,Forget that thou art not free!”
So doth the Syren sing, while sparkling wavesDance to her chant. But sternly, mournfully,O city of the deep! from Sybil grotsAnd Roman tombs, the echoes of thy shoreTake up the cadence of her strain alone,Murmuring--“Thou, art not free!”
Words in this poem
- odour n.
- Any smell, whether fragrant or offensive; scent; perfume. [OE. odor, odour, OF. odor, odour, F. odeur, fr. L. odor; akin to olere to smell, Gr. Olfactory, Osmium, Ozone, Redolent.]
- starry a.
- Abounding with stars; adorned with stars.
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- pictured a.
- Furnished with pictures; represented by a picture or pictures; as, a pictured scene.
- loveliness n.
- The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- sternly adv.
- In a stern manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Naples: A Song of the Syren 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, Naples: A Song of the Syren, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/naples-a-song-of-the-syren.html, id L19623.
Form and metre
Naples: A Song of the Syren is 38 lines in 6 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABBCC, in 2 of the 6 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 80%).
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- aroseA · closeA · keenB · oceanC · motionC · greenB · shelley
- 3 AABBCC playA · dayA · nightB · lightB · freeC · seaC
- 4 A-BBAA skyA · melody · towerB · bowerB · seaA · freeA
- 5 AABBCC hallsA · fallsA · boughB · browB · seaC · freeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Then gentle winds arose, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| With many a mingled close | 7 | ·/˘·/˘· |
| Of wild Æolian sound and mountain-odour keen, | 11 | ······/˘/˘· |
| Where the clear Baian ocean | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Welters with air-like motion | 7 | /˘···/˘ |
| Within, above, around its bowers of starry green.” | 12 | ·······/·/˘· |
| Shelley. | 2 | /˘ |
| Still is the Syren warbling on thy shore, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Bright city of the waves! Her magic song | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Still, with a dreamy sense of ecstasy, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Fills thy soft summer air:--and while my glance | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Dwells on thy pictured loveliness, that lay | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Floats thus o’er fancy’s ear; and thus to thee, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Daughter of sunshine! doth the Syren sing. | 10 | /˘·/···/˘· |
| “Thine is the glad wave’s flashing play, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thine is the laugh of the golden day-- | 9 | ······/˘· |
| The golden day, and the glorious night, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘˘· |
| And the vine with its clusters all bathed in light! | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| --Forget, forget, that thou art not free! | 9 | ˘/˘/····· |
| Queen of the Summer sea. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| “Favour’d and crown’d of the earth and sky! | 9 | ········· |
| Thine are all voices of melody, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘˘ |
| Wandering in moonlight through fane and tower, | 11 | /˘˘·/····/˘ |
| Floating o’er fountain and myrtle bower; | 10 | /˘·/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Hark! how they melt o’er thy glittering sea-- | 10 | ······/˘˘· |
| Forget that thou art not free! | 7 | ˘/····· |
| “Let the wine flow in thy marble halls! | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Let the lute answer thy fountain-falls! | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| And deck thy feasts with the myrtle bough, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And cover with roses thy glowing brow! | 10 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘· |
| Queen of the day and the summer sea, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Forget that thou art not free!” | 7 | ˘/····· |
| So doth the Syren sing, while sparkling waves | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Dance to her chant. But sternly, mournfully, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| O city of the deep! from Sybil grots | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And Roman tombs, the echoes of thy shore | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Take up the cadence of her strain alone, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Murmuring--“Thou, art not free!” | 7 | /˘˘···· |
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.