To Kosciusko
Good Kosciusko, thy great name aloneIs a full harvest whence to reap high feeling;It comes upon us like the glorious pealingOf the wide spheres--an everlasting tone.And now it tells me, that in worlds unknown,The names of heroes, burst from clouds concealing,And changed to harmonies, for ever stealingThrough cloudless blue, and round each silver throne.It tells me too, that on a happy day,When some good spirit walks upon the earth,Thy name with Alfred's, and the great of yoreGently commingling, gives tremendous birthTo a loud hymn, that sounds far, far awayTo where the great God lives for evermore.
Words in this poem
- reap n.
- A bundle of grain; a handful of grain laid down by the reaper as it is cut. Wright. [Cf. AS. rip harvest. See Reap, v.]
- 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.]
- cloudless a.
- Without a cloud; clear; bright.
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- tremendous a.
- Fitted to excite fear or terror; such as may astonish or terrify by its magnitude, force, or violence; terrible; dreadful; as, a tremendous wind; a tremendous shower; a tremendous shock or fall. [L. tremendus that is to be trembled at, fearful, fr. tremere to tremble. See Tremble.]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Kosciusko is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems 1817, Project Gutenberg ebook #8209; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Keats, To Kosciusko, in Poems (1817) (1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8209, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/keats-1817/to-kosciusko.html, id L00416.
Form and metre
To Kosciusko is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDEDCE. 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 10.2 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 43% 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 ABBAABBACDEDCE aloneA · feelingB · pealingB · toneA · unknownA · concealingB · stealingB · throneA · dayC · earthD · yoreE · birthD · awayC · evermoreE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Good Kosciusko, thy great name alone | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| Is a full harvest whence to reap high feeling; | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| It comes upon us like the glorious pealing | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Of the wide spheres--an everlasting tone. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And now it tells me, that in worlds unknown, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The names of heroes, burst from clouds concealing, | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| And changed to harmonies, for ever stealing | 11 | ···/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| Through cloudless blue, and round each silver throne. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| It tells me too, that on a happy day, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When some good spirit walks upon the earth, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Thy name with Alfred's, and the great of yore | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Gently commingling, gives tremendous birth | 10 | /˘˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| To a loud hymn, that sounds far, far away | 10 | ········˘/ |
| To where the great God lives for evermore. | 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.