Lear
A poor old king, with sorrow for my crown,Throned upon straw, and mantled with the wind--For pity, my own tears have made me blindThat I might never see my children's frown;And, may be, madness, like a friend, has thrownA folded fillet over my dark mind,So that unkindly speech may sound for kind--Albeit I know not.--I am childish grown--And have not gold to purchase wit withal--I that have once maintain'd most royal state--A very bankrupt now that may not callMy child, my child--all beggar'd save in tears,Wherewith I daily weep an old man's fate,Foolish--and blind--and overcome with years!
Words in this poem
- unkindly a.
- Not kindly; unkind; ungracious.
- albeit conj.
- Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
- withal adv.
- With this; with that. [With + all.]
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lear is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, Lear, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/lear.html, id L20107.
Form and metre
Lear is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBACBBCDEDFEF. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABBACBBCDEDFEF crownA · windB · blindB · frownA · thrownC · mindB · kindB · grownC · withalD · stateE · callD · tearsF · fateE · yearsF
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 poor old king, with sorrow for my crown, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Throned upon straw, and mantled with the wind-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For pity, my own tears have made me blind | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| That I might never see my children's frown; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And, may be, madness, like a friend, has thrown | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A folded fillet over my dark mind, | 10 | ·/˘˘/····· |
| So that unkindly speech may sound for kind-- | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Albeit I know not.--I am childish grown-- | 11 | ˘/˘·····/˘· |
| And have not gold to purchase wit withal-- | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| I that have once maintain'd most royal state-- | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| A very bankrupt now that may not call | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| My child, my child--all beggar'd save in tears, | 10 | ·········· |
| Wherewith I daily weep an old man's fate, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Foolish--and blind--and overcome with years! | 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.