Written in a Volume of Shakspeare
How bravely Autumn paints upon the skyThe gorgeous fame of Summer which is fled!Hues of all flow'rs, that in their ashes lie,Trophied in that fair light whereon they fed,--Tulip, and hyacinth, and sweet rose red,--Like exhalations from the leafy mould,Look here how honor glorifies the dead,And warms their scutcheons with a glance of gold!--Such is the memory of poets old,Who on Parnassus' hill have bloom'd elate;Now they are laid under their marbles cold,And turned to clay, whereof they were create;But god Apollo hath them all enroll'd,And blazon'd on the very clouds of Fate!
Words in this poem
- bravely adv.
- In a brave manner; courageously; gallantly; valiantly; splendidly; nobly.
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- trophied a.
- Adorned with trophies.
- whereon adv.
- On which; -- used relatively; as, the earth whereon we live.
- tulip n.
- Any plant of the liliaceous genus Tulipa. Many varieties are cultivated for their beautiful, often variegated flowers. Tulip tree. [F. tulipe, OF. also tulipan, It. tulipano, tulipa, from Turk. tulbend, dulbend, literally, a turban, Per. dulband; -- so called from the resemblance of the form]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- whereof adv.
- Of which; of whom; formerly, also, with which; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written in a Volume of Shakspeare 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, Written in a Volume of Shakspeare, 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/written-in-a-volume-of-shakspeare.html, id L20078.
Form and metre
Written in a Volume of Shakspeare is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABBCBCCDCDCD. 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 ABABBCBCCDCDCD skyA · fledB · lieA · fedB · redB · mouldC · deadB · goldC · oldC · elateD · coldC · createD · enroll'dC · fateD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How bravely Autumn paints upon the sky | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| The gorgeous fame of Summer which is fled! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Hues of all flow'rs, that in their ashes lie, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Trophied in that fair light whereon they fed,-- | 10 | /˘····˘/·· |
| Tulip, and hyacinth, and sweet rose red,-- | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Like exhalations from the leafy mould, | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Look here how honor glorifies the dead, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And warms their scutcheons with a glance of gold!-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Such is the memory of poets old, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Who on Parnassus' hill have bloom'd elate; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Now they are laid under their marbles cold, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And turned to clay, whereof they were create; | 10 | ········˘/ |
| But god Apollo hath them all enroll'd, | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| And blazon'd on the very clouds of Fate! | 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.