Tasso’s Coronation
A crown of victory! a triumphal song!Oh! call some friend, upon whose pitying heartThe weary one may calmly sink to rest;Let some kind voice, beside his lowly couch,Pour the last prayer for mortal agony!
A trumpet’s note is in the sky, in the glorious Roman sky,Whose dome hath rung, so many an age, to the voice of victory;There is crowding to the Capitol, the imperial streets along,For again a conqueror must be crown’d--a kingly child of song:
Yet his chariot lingers,Yet around his homeBroods a shadow silently,Midst the joy of Rome.
A thousand, thousand laurel boughs are waving wide and far,To shed out their triumphal gleams around his rolling car;A thousand haunts of olden gods have given their wealth of flowers,To scatter o’er his path of fame bright hues in gem-like showers.
Peace! Within his chamberLow the mighty lies--With a cloud of dreams on his noble brow,And a wandering in his eyes.
Sing, sing for him, the lord of song--for him, whose rushing strainIn mastery o’er the spirit sweeps, like a strong wind o’er the main!Whose voice lives deep in burning hearts, for ever there to dwell,As full-toned oracles are shrined in a temple’s holiest cell.
Yes! for him, the victor,Sing--but low, sing low!A soft, sad miserere chantFor a soul about to go!
The sun, the sun of Italy is pouring o’er his way,Where the old three hundred triumphs moved, a flood of golden day;Streaming through every haughty arch of the Cæsars’ past renown--Bring forth, in that exulting light, the conqueror for his crown!
Shut the proud, bright sunshineFrom the fading sight!There needs no ray by the bed of death,Save the holy taper’s light.
The wreath is twined--the way is strewn--the lordly train are met--The streets are hung with coronals--why stays the minstrel yet?Shout! as an army shouts in joy around a royal chief--Bring forth the bard of chivalry, the bard of love and grief!
Silence! forth we bring him,In his last array;From love and grief the freed, the flown--Way for the bier!--make way!
Words in this poem 17
- triumphal n.
- A token of victory.
- pitying a.
- Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
- 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.]
- rung n.
- A floor timber in a ship. [OE. ronge, AS. hrung, a staff, rod, pole; akin to G. runge a short, thick piece of iron or wood, OD. ronghe a prop, support, Icel. röng a rib in a ship, Goth. H]
- capitol
- The temple of Jupiter, at Rome, on the Mona Capitolinus, where the Senate met. [L. capitolium, fr. caput head: cf. F. capitole. See Chief.]
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- miserere n.
- The psalm usually appointed for penitential acts, being the 50th psalm in the Latin version. It commences with the word miserere. [L., have mercy, fr. misereri to have mercy, fr. miser. See Miser.]
- streaming a.
- Sending forth streams.
- haughty a.
- High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- 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.
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- flown a.
- Flushed, inflated.
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Tasso’s Coronation 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, Tasso’s Coronation, in Poems (1808–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66785, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hemans-poems/tasso-s-coronation.html, id L19518.
Form and metre
Tasso’s Coronation is 45 lines in 11 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABB, in 4 of the 11 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. 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.
- 2 --AA sky · victory · alongA · songA
- 3 -A-A lingers · homeA · silently · romeA
- 4 AABB farA · carA · flowersB · showersB
- 5 -A-A chamber · liesA · brow · eyesA
- 6 AABB strainA · mainA · dwellB · cellB
- 7 -A-A victor · lowA · chant · goA
- 8 AABB wayA · dayA · renownB · crownB
- 9 -A-A sunshine · sightA · death · lightA
- 10 AABB metA · yetA · chiefB · griefB
- 11 -A-A him · arrayA · flown · wayA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A crown of victory! a triumphal song! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Oh! call some friend, upon whose pitying heart | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The weary one may calmly sink to rest; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Let some kind voice, beside his lowly couch, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| Pour the last prayer for mortal agony! | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| A trumpet’s note is in the sky, in the glorious Roman sky, | 15 | ·/˘·······/˘/˘· |
| Whose dome hath rung, so many an age, to the voice of victory; | 14 | ·····/······/˘ |
| There is crowding to the Capitol, the imperial streets along, | 15 | ··/˘··/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| For again a conqueror must be crown’d--a kingly child of song: | 15 | ·˘/·/˘····/˘··· |
| Yet his chariot lingers, | 7 | ··/˘˘/˘ |
| Yet around his home | 5 | ····· |
| Broods a shadow silently, | 7 | ··/·/˘˘ |
| Midst the joy of Rome. | 5 | ····· |
| A thousand, thousand laurel boughs are waving wide and far, | 14 | ·/˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| To shed out their triumphal gleams around his rolling car; | 14 | ····˘/˘····/˘· |
| A thousand haunts of olden gods have given their wealth of flowers, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘··/···/ |
| To scatter o’er his path of fame bright hues in gem-like showers. | 14 | ·/˘··········/ |
| Peace! Within his chamber | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Low the mighty lies-- | 5 | ··/˘· |
| With a cloud of dreams on his noble brow, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And a wandering in his eyes. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Sing, sing for him, the lord of song--for him, whose rushing strain | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| In mastery o’er the spirit sweeps, like a strong wind o’er the main! | 14 | ·/˘··/········ |
| Whose voice lives deep in burning hearts, for ever there to dwell, | 13 | ·····/˘··/··· |
| As full-toned oracles are shrined in a temple’s holiest cell. | 14 | ···/˘····/˘/˘· |
| Yes! for him, the victor, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| Sing--but low, sing low! | 5 | ····· |
| A soft, sad miserere chant | 7 | ······· |
| For a soul about to go! | 7 | ······· |
| The sun, the sun of Italy is pouring o’er his way, | 13 | ·····/˘·/˘··· |
| Where the old three hundred triumphs moved, a flood of golden day; | 15 | ····/˘/˘····/˘· |
| Streaming through every haughty arch of the Cæsars’ past renown-- | 15 | /˘·/˘/˘······˘/ |
| Bring forth, in that exulting light, the conqueror for his crown! | 14 | ····˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Shut the proud, bright sunshine | 6 | ····/· |
| From the fading sight! | 5 | ··/˘· |
| There needs no ray by the bed of death, | 9 | ········· |
| Save the holy taper’s light. | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| The wreath is twined--the way is strewn--the lordly train are met-- | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| The streets are hung with coronals--why stays the minstrel yet? | 14 | ···········/˘· |
| Shout! as an army shouts in joy around a royal chief-- | 14 | ···/˘······/˘· |
| Bring forth the bard of chivalry, the bard of love and grief! | 13 | ·····/˘······ |
| Silence! forth we bring him, | 6 | /˘···· |
| In his last array; | 5 | ···˘/ |
| From love and grief the freed, the flown-- | 8 | ········ |
| Way for the bier!--make way! | 6 | ······ |
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