Macgregor
Count the ocean's finny droves;Count the twinkling host of stars.Round the night's pale orb that moves;Count the groves' wing'd choristers;Count each verdant blade that grows;Counted then will be my woes.
When shall these eyes cease to weep;When shall this world-wearied frame,Cover'd by the cold sod, sleep?--Sure, beneath yon planet's beam,None like me have made such moan;This to every bower is known.
Sad my nights; from morn till eve,Tenanting the woods, I sigh:But, ere I shall cease to grieve,Ocean's vast bed shall be dry,Suns their light from moons shall gain.And spring wither on each plain.
Pensive, weeping, night and day,From this shore to that I fly,Changeful as the lunar ray;And, when evening veils the sky,Then my tears might swell the floods,Then my sighs might bow the woods!
Towns I hate, the shades I love;For relief to yon green height,Where the rill resounds, I roveAt the grateful calm of night;There I wait the day's decline,For the welcome moon to shine.
Oh, that in some lone retreat,Like Endymion I were lain;And that she, who rules my fate,There one night to stay would deign;Never from his billowy bedMore might Phoebus lift his head!
Song, that on the wood-hung streamIn the silent hour wert born,Witness'd but by Cynthia's beam.Soon as breaks to-morrow's morn,Thou shalt seek a glorious plain,There with Laura to remain!
Words in this poem
- finny a.
- Having, or abounding in, fins, as fishes; pertaining to fishes.
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- 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,]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- changeful a.
- Full of change; mutable; inconstant; fickle; uncertain.
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- deign v. t.
- To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [OE. deinen, deignen, OF. degner, deigner, daigner, F. daigner, fr. L. dignari to deem worthy, deign, fr. dignus worthy; akin to decere to be fitting. See Decent]
- billowy a.
- Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
- phoebus n.
- Apollo; the sun god.
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- laura n.
- A number of hermitages or cells in the same neighborhood occupied by anchorites who were under the same superior. C. Kingsley.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Macgregor is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Petrarch, Macgregor, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/macgregor-23.html, id L14799.
Form and metre
Macgregor is 42 lines in 7 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCC, in 2 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 7% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 -A-ABB droves · starsA · moves · choristersA · growsB · woesB
- 2 A-A-BB weepA · frame · sleepA · beam · moanB · knownB
- 3 ABABCC eveA · sighB · grieveA · dryB · gainC · plainC
- 4 ABAB-- dayA · flyB · rayA · skyB · floods · woods
- 5 -A-ABB love · heightA · rove · nightA · declineB · shineB
- 6 -A-ABB retreat · lainA · fate · deignA · bedB · headB
- 7 ABABCC streamA · bornB · beamA · mornB · plainC · remainC
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Count the ocean's finny droves; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Count the twinkling host of stars. | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Round the night's pale orb that moves; | 7 | ······· |
| Count the groves' wing'd choristers; | 7 | ······· |
| Count each verdant blade that grows; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Counted then will be my woes. | 7 | /˘····· |
| When shall these eyes cease to weep; | 7 | ······· |
| When shall this world-wearied frame, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Cover'd by the cold sod, sleep?-- | 7 | /˘····· |
| Sure, beneath yon planet's beam, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| None like me have made such moan; | 7 | ······· |
| This to every bower is known. | 9 | ··/˘˘/˘·· |
| Sad my nights; from morn till eve, | 7 | ······· |
| Tenanting the woods, I sigh: | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| But, ere I shall cease to grieve, | 7 | ······· |
| Ocean's vast bed shall be dry, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Suns their light from moons shall gain. | 7 | ······· |
| And spring wither on each plain. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Pensive, weeping, night and day, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| From this shore to that I fly, | 7 | ······· |
| Changeful as the lunar ray; | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| And, when evening veils the sky, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Then my tears might swell the floods, | 7 | ······· |
| Then my sighs might bow the woods! | 7 | ······· |
| Towns I hate, the shades I love; | 7 | ······· |
| For relief to yon green height, | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Where the rill resounds, I rove | 7 | ····/·· |
| At the grateful calm of night; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| There I wait the day's decline, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| For the welcome moon to shine. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Oh, that in some lone retreat, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Like Endymion I were lain; | 7 | ······· |
| And that she, who rules my fate, | 7 | ······· |
| There one night to stay would deign; | 7 | ······· |
| Never from his billowy bed | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| More might Phoebus lift his head! | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Song, that on the wood-hung stream | 7 | ······· |
| In the silent hour wert born, | 8 | ··/˘/˘·· |
| Witness'd but by Cynthia's beam. | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Soon as breaks to-morrow's morn, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Thou shalt seek a glorious plain, | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| There with Laura to remain! | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
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.