To the Genius of Romance
Oh! thou who, in my early youth,When fancy wore the garb of truth,Wert wont to win my infant feetTo some retired, deep fabled seat,Where, by the brooklet's secret tide,The midnight ghost was known to glide;Or lay me in some lonely glade,In native Sherwood's forest shade,Where Robin Hood, the outlaw bold,Was wont his sylvan courts to hold;And there, as musing deep I lay,Would steal my little soul away,And all my pictures represent,Of siege and solemn tournament;Or bear me to the magic scene,Where, clad in greaves and gabardine,The warrior knight of chivalryMade many a fierce enchanter flee;And bore the high-born dame away,Long held the fell magician's prey.Or oft would tell the shuddering taleOf murders, and of goblins pale,Haunting the guilty baron's side(Whose floors with secret blood were dyed),Which o'er the vaulted corridorOn stormy nights was heard to roar,By old domestic, waken'd wideBy the angry winds that chide:Or else the mystic tale would tellOf Greensleeve, or of Blue-Beard fell.
Words in this poem
- garb n.
- External appearance, as expressive of the feelings or character; looks; fashion or manner, as of speech. [OF. garbe looks, countenance, grace, ornament, fr. OHG. garawi, garwi, ornament, dress. akin to E. gear. See Gear, n.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- glade n.
- An open passage through a wood; a grassy open or cleared space in a forest. [Prob. of Scand. origin, and akin to glad, a.; cf. also W. golead, goleuad, a lighting, illumination, fr. goleu light, clear, bright, goleu fwlch glade, lit., a ]
- tournament n.
- A mock fight, or warlike game, formerly in great favor, in which a number of combatants were engaged, as an exhibition of their address and bravery; hence, figuratively, a real battle. [OE. turnement, tornement, OF. torneiement, tornoiement, F. tournoiement a turning or wheeling round. See Tourney.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- greaves n.
- The sediment of melted tallow. It is made into cakes for dogs' food. In Scotland it is called cracklings. [Cf. dial. Sw. grevar greaves, LG. greven, G. griebe, also AS. greofa pot. Cf. Gravy.]
- gabardine n.
- A coarse frock or loose upper garment formerly worn by Jews; a mean dress. [Sp. gabardina; cf. It. gavardina, OF. galvardine, calvardine, gavardine, galeverdine; perh. akin to Sp. & OF. gaban a sort of cloak or coat for rainy weather, F]
- enchanter n.
- One who enchants; a sorcerer or magician; also, one who delights as by an enchantment. [Cf. F. enchanteur.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- corridor n.
- A gallery or passageway leading to several apartments of a house. [F., fr. Itt. corridpore, or Sp. corredor; prop., a runner, hence, a running or long line, a gallery, fr. L. currere to run. See Course.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Genius of Romance 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 Genius of Romance, 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-genius-of-romance.html, id L10097.
Form and metre
To the Genius of Romance is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 87% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHH--FFIICC--CCJJ youthA · truthA · feetB · seatB · tideC · glideC · gladeD · shadeD · boldE · holdE · layF · awayF · representG · tournamentG · sceneH · gabardineH · chivalry · flee · awayF · preyF · taleI · paleI · sideC · dyedC · corridor · roar · wideC · chideC · tellJ · fellJ
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! thou who, in my early youth, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When fancy wore the garb of truth, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wert wont to win my infant feet | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To some retired, deep fabled seat, | 10 | ··˘/˘·/˘˘· |
| Where, by the brooklet's secret tide, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The midnight ghost was known to glide; | 8 | ·/······ |
| Or lay me in some lonely glade, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In native Sherwood's forest shade, | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| Where Robin Hood, the outlaw bold, | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Was wont his sylvan courts to hold; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And there, as musing deep I lay, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Would steal my little soul away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And all my pictures represent, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Of siege and solemn tournament; | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Or bear me to the magic scene, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where, clad in greaves and gabardine, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The warrior knight of chivalry | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘˘ |
| Made many a fierce enchanter flee; | 9 | ·/˘··˘/˘· |
| And bore the high-born dame away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Long held the fell magician's prey. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Or oft would tell the shuddering tale | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Of murders, and of goblins pale, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Haunting the guilty baron's side | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| (Whose floors with secret blood were dyed), | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which o'er the vaulted corridor | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| On stormy nights was heard to roar, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By old domestic, waken'd wide | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| By the angry winds that chide: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Or else the mystic tale would tell | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of Greensleeve, or of Blue-Beard fell. | 8 | ········ |
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.