To the Earl of Carlisle, K. G II. 1
"Oh, 'twas not always thus," he cried,"There was a time, when genius claim'dRespect from even towering pride,Nor hung her head ashamed:But now to wealth alone we bow,The titled and the rich aloneAre honour'd, while meek merit pines,On penury's wretched couch reclines,Unheeded in his dying moan,As, overwhelmed with want and woe, he sinks unknown.
Words in this poem
- towering a.
- Very high; elevated; rising aloft; as, a towering height.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- titled a.
- Having or bearing a title.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Earl of Carlisle, K. G II. 1 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, Project Gutenberg ebook #7149; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Kirke White, To the Earl of Carlisle, K. G II. 1, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/to-the-earl-of-carlisle-k-g-ii-1.html, id L10091.
Form and metre
To the Earl of Carlisle, K. G II. 1 is 10 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 20% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABAB-CDDCC criedA · claim'dB · prideA · ashamedB · bow · aloneC · pinesD · reclinesD · moanC · unknownC
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Oh, 'twas not always thus," he cried, | 8 | ···/···· |
| "There was a time, when genius claim'd | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Respect from even towering pride, | 9 | ˘/·/˘/˘˘· |
| Nor hung her head ashamed: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But now to wealth alone we bow, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The titled and the rich alone | 9 | ·/˘˘···˘/ |
| Are honour'd, while meek merit pines, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On penury's wretched couch reclines, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| Unheeded in his dying moan, | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| As, overwhelmed with want and woe, he sinks unknown. | 12 | ··˘/······˘/ |
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.