Bindo. Benvenuto
Ah? Benvenuto? 'T is a masterpiece!It pleases me as much, and even more,Than the antiques about it; and yet theyAre of the best one sees. But you have placed itBy far too high. The light comes from below,And injures the expression. Were these windowsAbove and not beneath it, then indeedIt would maintain its own among these worksOf the old masters, noble as they are.I will go in and study it more closely.I always prophesied that Benvenuto,With all his follies and fantastic ways,Would show his genius in some work of artThat would amaze the world, and be a challengeUnto all other artists of his time.
Words in this poem
- masterpiece n.
- Anything done or made with extraordinary skill; a capital performance; a chef-d'oeuvre; a supreme achievement.
- amaze v. t.
- To bewilder; to stupefy; to bring into a maze. [Pref. a- + maze.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Bindo. Benvenuto is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Project Gutenberg ebook #1365; 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 Wadsworth Longfellow, Bindo. Benvenuto, in The Complete Poetical Works (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/bindo-benvenuto.html, id L18019.
Form and metre
Bindo. Benvenuto is 15 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 47% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ah? Benvenuto? 'T is a masterpiece! | 10 | ·˘/˘···/˘· |
| It pleases me as much, and even more, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Than the antiques about it; and yet they | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Are of the best one sees. But you have placed it | 11 | ··········· |
| By far too high. The light comes from below, | 10 | ·········· |
| And injures the expression. Were these windows | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘··/˘ |
| Above and not beneath it, then indeed | 10 | ········˘/ |
| It would maintain its own among these works | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Of the old masters, noble as they are. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| I will go in and study it more closely. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| I always prophesied that Benvenuto, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··˘˘/˘ |
| With all his follies and fantastic ways, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Would show his genius in some work of art | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That would amaze the world, and be a challenge | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| Unto all other artists of his time. | 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.