To one who has been long in city pent
To one who has been long in city pent,'Tis very sweet to look into the fairAnd open face of heaven,--to breathe a prayerFull in the smile of the blue firmament.Who is more happy, when, with hearts content,Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lairOf wavy grass, and reads a debonairAnd gentle tale of love and languishment?Returning home at evening, with an earCatching the notes of Philomel,--an eyeWatching the sailing cloudlet's bright career,He mourns that day so soon has glided by:E'en like the passage of an angel's tearThat falls through the clear ether silently.
Words in this poem
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- firmament n.
- Fixed foundation; established basis. [L. firmamentum, fr. firmare to make firm: cf. F. firmament. See Firm, v. & a.]
- lair n.
- A place in which to lie or rest; especially, the bed or couch of a wild beast. [OE. leir, AS. leger; akin to D. leger, G. lager couch, lair, OHG. laga, Goth. ligrs, and to E. lie. See Lie to be prostrate, and cf. Layer, Leaguer.]
- debonair a.
- Characterized by courteousness, affability, or gentleness; of good appearance and manners; graceful; complaisant. [OE. debonere, OF. de bon aire, debonaire, of good descent or lineage, excellent, debonair, F. débonnaire debonair; de of (L. de) + bon good (L. bonus) + aire. S]
- languishment n.
- The state of languishing.
- career n.
- A race course: the ground run over. [F. carrière race course, high road, street, fr. L. carrus wagon. See Car.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To one who has been long in city pent 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 one who has been long in city pent, in Poems (1817) (1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8209, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/keats-1817/to-one-who-has-been-long-in-city-pent.html, id L20522.
Form and metre
To one who has been long in city pent is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
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 ABBAABBACDCDB- pentA · fairB · prayerB · firmamentA · contentA · lairB · debonairB · languishmentA · earC · eyeD · careerC · byD · tearB · silently
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To one who has been long in city pent, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Tis very sweet to look into the fair | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And open face of heaven,--to breathe a prayer | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Full in the smile of the blue firmament. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Who is more happy, when, with hearts content, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Fatigued he sinks into some pleasant lair | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| Of wavy grass, and reads a debonair | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And gentle tale of love and languishment? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Returning home at evening, with an ear | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Catching the notes of Philomel,--an eye | 10 | /˘···/˘˘·· |
| Watching the sailing cloudlet's bright career, | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| He mourns that day so soon has glided by: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| E'en like the passage of an angel's tear | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That falls through the clear ether silently. | 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.