The Old Bridge at Florence
Taddeo Gaddi built me. I am old,Five centuries old. I plant my foot of stoneUpon the Arno, as St. Michael's ownWas planted on the dragon. Fold by foldBeneath me as it struggles. I beholdIts glistening scales. Twice hath it overthrownMy kindred and companions. Me aloneIt moveth not, but is by me controlled,I can remember when the MediciWere driven from Florence; longer still agoThe final wars of Ghibelline and Guelf.Florence adorns me with her jewelry;And when I think that Michael AngeloHath leaned on me, I glory in myself.
Words in this poem
- ghibelline n.
- One of a faction in Italy, in the 12th and 13th centuries, which favored the German emperors, and opposed the Guelfs, or adherents of the poses. Brande & C. [It. Ghibellino; of German origin.]
- guelf n.
- One of a faction in Germany and Italy, in the 12th and 13th centuries, which supported the House of Guelph and the pope, and opposed the Ghibellines, or faction of the German emperors. [It. Guelfo, from Welf, the name of a German family.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Old Bridge at Florence 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, The Old Bridge at Florence, in A Psalm of Life, and Other Poems (1839–1882), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1365, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/longfellow-poems/the-old-bridge-at-florence.html, id L17751.
Form and metre
The Old Bridge at Florence is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 64% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBAABBA-CD-CD oldA · stoneB · ownB · foldA · beholdA · overthrownB · aloneB · controlledA · medici · agoC · guelfD · jewelry · angeloC · myselfD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Taddeo Gaddi built me. I am old, | 10 | /˘˘······· |
| Five centuries old. I plant my foot of stone | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Upon the Arno, as St. Michael's own | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Was planted on the dragon. Fold by fold | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Beneath me as it struggles. I behold | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Its glistening scales. Twice hath it overthrown | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| My kindred and companions. Me alone | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| It moveth not, but is by me controlled, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| I can remember when the Medici | 10 | ··˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| Were driven from Florence; longer still ago | 10 | ·/·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The final wars of Ghibelline and Guelf. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Florence adorns me with her jewelry; | 10 | /˘˘/···/˘˘ |
| And when I think that Michael Angelo | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Hath leaned on me, I glory in myself. | 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.