Cadenabbia, Lake of Como
No sound of wheels or hoof-beat breaksThe silence of the summer day,As by the loveliest of all lakesI while the idle hours away.
I pace the leafy colonnadeWhere level branches of the planeAbove me weave a roof of shadeImpervious to the sun and rain.
At times a sudden rush of airFlutters the lazy leaves o'erhead,And gleams of sunshine toss and flareLike torches down the path I tread.
By Somariva's garden gateI make the marble stairs my seat,And hear the water, as I wait,Lapping the steps beneath my feet.
The undulation sinks and swellsAlong the stony parapets,And far away the floating bellsTinkle upon the fisher's nets.
Silent and slow, by tower and townThe freighted barges come and go,Their pendent shadows gliding downBy town and tower submerged below.
The hills sweep upward from the shore,With villas scattered one by oneUpon their wooded spurs, and lowerBellaggio blazing in the sun.
And dimly seen, a tangled massOf walls and woods, of light and shade,Stands beckoning up the Stelvio PassVarenna with its white cascade.
I ask myself, Is this a dream?Will it all vanish into air?Is there a land of such supremeAnd perfect beauty anywhere?
Sweet vision! Do not fade away;Linger until my heart shall takeInto itself the summer day,And all the beauty of the lake.
Linger until upon my brainIs stamped an image of the scene,Then fade into the air again,And be as if thou hadst not been.
Words in this poem
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- flare v. i.
- To burn with an unsteady or waving flame; as, the candle flares. [Cf. Norw. flara to blaze, flame, adorn with tinsel, dial. Sw. flasa upp, and E. flash, or flacker.]
- undulation n.
- The act of undulating; a waving motion or vibration; as, the undulations of a fluid, of water, or of air; the undulations of sound. [Cf. F. ondulation.]
- dimly adv.
- In a dim or obscure manner; not brightly or clearly; with imperfect sight.
- cascade n.
- A fall of water over a precipice, as in a river or brook; a waterfall less than a cataract. [F. cascade, fr. It. cascata, fr. cascare to ball.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cadenabbia, Lake of Como 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, Cadenabbia, Lake of Como, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/lake-of-como.html, id L17773.
Form and metre
Cadenabbia, Lake of Como is 44 lines in 11 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 10 of its 11 stanzas. 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 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends 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 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 breaksA · dayB · lakesA · awayB
- 2 ABAB colonnadeA · planeB · shadeA · rainB
- 3 ABAB airA · o'erheadB · flareA · treadB
- 4 ABAB gateA · seatB · waitA · feetB
- 5 ABAB swellsA · parapetsB · bellsA · netsB
- 6 ABAB townA · goB · downA · belowB
- 7 -A-A shore · oneA · lower · sunA
- 8 ABAB massA · shadeB · passA · cascadeB
- 9 ABAB dreamA · airB · supremeA · anywhereB
- 10 ABAB awayA · takeB · dayA · lakeB
- 11 ABAB brainA · sceneB · againA · beenB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No sound of wheels or hoof-beat breaks | 8 | ········ |
| The silence of the summer day, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As by the loveliest of all lakes | 9 | ········· |
| I while the idle hours away. | 8 | ···/˘/˘/ |
| I pace the leafy colonnade | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Where level branches of the plane | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Above me weave a roof of shade | 8 | ········ |
| Impervious to the sun and rain. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| At times a sudden rush of air | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Flutters the lazy leaves o'erhead, | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| And gleams of sunshine toss and flare | 8 | ···/···· |
| Like torches down the path I tread. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| By Somariva's garden gate | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I make the marble stairs my seat, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And hear the water, as I wait, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lapping the steps beneath my feet. | 8 | /˘······ |
| The undulation sinks and swells | 8 | ········ |
| Along the stony parapets, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| And far away the floating bells | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Tinkle upon the fisher's nets. | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Silent and slow, by tower and town | 8 | /˘···/·· |
| The freighted barges come and go, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Their pendent shadows gliding down | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| By town and tower submerged below. | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| The hills sweep upward from the shore, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With villas scattered one by one | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Upon their wooded spurs, and lower | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Bellaggio blazing in the sun. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And dimly seen, a tangled mass | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Of walls and woods, of light and shade, | 8 | ········ |
| Stands beckoning up the Stelvio Pass | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Varenna with its white cascade. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I ask myself, Is this a dream? | 8 | ···/···· |
| Will it all vanish into air? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Is there a land of such supreme | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And perfect beauty anywhere? | 8 | ·/·/˘/˘· |
| Sweet vision! Do not fade away; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Linger until my heart shall take | 8 | /˘······ |
| Into itself the summer day, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And all the beauty of the lake. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Linger until upon my brain | 8 | /˘······ |
| Is stamped an image of the scene, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then fade into the air again, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And be as if thou hadst not been. | 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.