Lines Written Near Richmond, upon the Thames, at Evening
How rich the wave, in front, imprestWith evening-twilight’s summer hues,While, facing thus the crimson west,The boat her silent path pursues!And see how dark the backward stream!A little moment past, so smiling!And still, perhaps, with faithless gleam,Some other loiterer beguiling.
Such views the youthful bard allure,But, heedless of the following gloom,He deems their colours shall endure’Till peace go with him to the tomb.--And let him nurse his fond deceit,And what if he must die in sorrow!Who would not cherish dreams so sweet,Though grief and pain may come to-morrow?
Glide gently, thus for ever glide,O Thames! that other bards may see,As lovely visions by thy sideAs now, fair river! come to me.Oh glide, fair stream! for ever so;Thy quiet soul on all bestowing,’Till all our minds for ever flow,As thy deep waters now are flowing.
Vain thought! yet be as now thou art,That in thy waters may be seenThe image of a poet’s heart,How bright, how solemn, how serene!Such heart did once the poet bless,Who, pouring here a later ditty,Could find no refuge from distress,But in the milder grief of pity.
Remembrance! as we glide along,For him suspend the dashing oar,And pray that never child of SongMay know his freezing sorrows more.How calm! how still! the only sound,The dripping of the oar suspended!--The evening darkness gathers roundBy virtue’s holiest powers attended.
Words in this poem
- imprest v. t.
- To advance on loan. Burke. [Pref. im- + prest: cf. It. imprestare. See Prest, n.]
- loiterer n.
- One who loiters; an idler.
- beguiling a.
- Alluring by guile; deluding; misleading; diverting.
- 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,]
- ditty n.
- A saying or utterance; especially, one that is short and frequently repeated; a theme. [OE. dite, OF. ditié, fr. L. dictatum, p. p. neut. of dictare to say often, dictate, compose. See Dictate, v. t.]
- dripping n.
- A falling in drops, or the sound so made.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Lines Written Near Richmond, upon the Thames, at Evening is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lyrical Ballads, With a Few Other Poems (1798), Project Gutenberg ebook #9622; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Wordsworth, Lines Written Near Richmond, upon the Thames, at Evening, in Lyrical Ballads (1798), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9622, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lyrical-ballads/lines-written-near-richmond-upon-the-thames-at-evening.html, id L02861.
Form and metre
Lines Written Near Richmond, upon the Thames, at Evening is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 15% 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 ABABCDCD imprestA · huesB · westA · pursuesB · streamC · smilingD · gleamC · beguilingD
- 2 ABABCDCD allureA · gloomB · endureA · tombB · deceitC · sorrowD · sweetC · morrowD
- 3 ABABCDCD glideA · seeB · sideA · meB · soC · bestowingD · flowC · flowingD
- 4 ABABCDCD artA · seenB · heartA · sereneB · blessC · dittyD · distressC · pityD
- 5 ABABCDCD alongA · oarB · songA · moreB · soundC · suspendedD · roundC · attendedD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How rich the wave, in front, imprest | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With evening-twilight’s summer hues, | 8 | ·/˘/·/˘· |
| While, facing thus the crimson west, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The boat her silent path pursues! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And see how dark the backward stream! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A little moment past, so smiling! | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| And still, perhaps, with faithless gleam, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Some other loiterer beguiling. | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| Such views the youthful bard allure, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But, heedless of the following gloom, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He deems their colours shall endure | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| ’Till peace go with him to the tomb. | 8 | ········ |
| --And let him nurse his fond deceit, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And what if he must die in sorrow! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Who would not cherish dreams so sweet, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Though grief and pain may come to-morrow? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Glide gently, thus for ever glide, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| O Thames! that other bards may see, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As lovely visions by thy side | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| As now, fair river! come to me. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Oh glide, fair stream! for ever so; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy quiet soul on all bestowing, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| ’Till all our minds for ever flow, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| As thy deep waters now are flowing. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Vain thought! yet be as now thou art, | 8 | ········ |
| That in thy waters may be seen | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The image of a poet’s heart, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| How bright, how solemn, how serene! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Such heart did once the poet bless, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who, pouring here a later ditty, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Could find no refuge from distress, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| But in the milder grief of pity. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Remembrance! as we glide along, | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| For him suspend the dashing oar, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And pray that never child of Song | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| May know his freezing sorrows more. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| How calm! how still! the only sound, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The dripping of the oar suspended! | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| --The evening darkness gathers round | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| By virtue’s holiest powers attended. | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 3
Notes credited “[Hutchinson]” are Thomas Hutchinson’s, from his edition Lyrical Ballads 1798 (Duckworth, 3rd ed. 1920; Internet Archive lyricalballads00worduoft), keyed to his own line numbers within each poem (the Ancyent Marinere numbered continuously 1-658 across all seven Parts). Notes credited “[W. Wordsworth, 1798]” are the poet’s own five footnotes printed in the site’s own source text (Project Gutenberg #9622).
- Stanza 4, line 5 Such heart did once the poet bless. The word once here and in l. 30 refer to Collins’s Ode on the Poetical Character and his Ode on the Death of Mr. Thomson; Wordsworth explains the latter reference in his own footnote to l. 30, but leaves the former unexplained. Wordsworth cordially admired Collins, whom he quotes five times in the poems of 1793. [Hutchinson]
- Stanza 4, line 6 a later ditty. Collins’s Ode on the death of Thomson, the last written, I believe, of the poems which were published during his life-time. This Ode is also alluded to in the next stanza. [W. Wordsworth, 1798]
- Stanza 5, line 2 For him suspend the dashing oar. In 1802 the word ‘him’ in this line was italicised, ‘because,’ says Professor Dowden, ‘the oar is suspended not for Thomson but for Collins.’ Lines 33, 34 recall stanza iv. of Collins’s Ode on the Death of Mr. Thomson: ‘Remembrance oft shall haunt the shore ... And oft suspend the dashing oar / To bid his gentle spirit rest.’ [Hutchinson]
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