Pastorals VI
How barren would this valley be,Without the golden orb that gazesOn it, broadening to huesOf rose, and spreading wings of amber;Blessing it before it falls asleep.
How barren would this valley be,Without the human lives now beatingIn it, or the throbbing heartsFar distant, who their flower of childhoodCherish here, and water it with tears!
How barren should I be, were IWithout above that loving splendour,Shedding light and warmth! withoutSome kindred natures of my kindTo joy in me, or yearn towards me now!
Words in this poem
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- yearn v. t.
- To pain; to grieve; to vex. [Also earn, ern; probably a corruption of OE. ermen to grieve, AS. ierman, yrman, or geierman, geyrman, fr. earm wretched, poor; akin to D. & G. arm, Icel. armr,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Pastorals VI is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #1381; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: George Meredith, Pastorals VI, in Modern Love, and Other Poems (1851–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1381, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/meredith-poems/pastorals-vi.html, id L13156.
Form and metre
Pastorals VI is 15 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 53% 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 -AA-- be · gazesA · huesA · amber · asleep
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 barren would this valley be, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Without the golden orb that gazes | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| On it, broadening to hues | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Of rose, and spreading wings of amber; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Blessing it before it falls asleep. | 9 | /˘·····˘/ |
| How barren would this valley be, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Without the human lives now beating | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| In it, or the throbbing hearts | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Far distant, who their flower of childhood | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/· |
| Cherish here, and water it with tears! | 9 | /˘··/˘··· |
| How barren should I be, were I | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Without above that loving splendour, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Shedding light and warmth! without | 7 | /˘····· |
| Some kindred natures of my kind | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| To joy in me, or yearn towards me now! | 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.