A Classical Walk
Oh, yes! beside that moonlit creek,Where sleep the silent waters,I’ll teach thee all I know of Greek,Young queen of beauty’s daughters!And each sweet eve, by that lone shore,Where no rude step can fright us,We’ll cull sweet flowers of classic lore,With the young stars to light us!
I’ll teach thee how the billows grieve,Where Lesbian Sappho slumbers,How young Catullus used to weaveFresh heart-sighs with his numbers:How Ariadne sighed and wept,And watched her love’s returning;And the young maid of Sestos keptHer love-lamp ever burning.
There by the light the quiet skyAnd the soft stars have made us,Thou for my Commentary;--IThy Lexicon and Gradus;--We’ll con each page of that bright lore,Love taught those maiden sagesWho read in Paphos’ bowers of yore,With moonlight on the pages!
And if, ere half our walk be done,Some ruined fane we light on,Which love once warmed,--some little oneThat moonlight then is bright on;We’ll kneel--and should some spark that glowsStill round the altar, reach us,And light our hearts--Heaven only knowsWhat wondrous things ’twill teach us!
Words in this poem
- moonlit a.
- Illumined by the moon.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- cull v. t.
- To separate, select, or pick out; to choose and gather or collect; as, to cuil flowers. [OE., OF. cuillir, coillir, F.cueillir, to gather, pluck, pick, fr. L. colligere. See Coil, v. t., and cf. Collect.]
- classic a.
- Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. [L. classicus relating to the classes of the Roman people, and especially to the frist class; hence, of the first rank, superior, from classis class: cf. F. clas]
- lesbian a.
- Of or pertaining to the island anciently called Lesbos, now Mitylene, in the Grecian Archipelago.
- sappho n.
- Any one of several species of brilliant South American humming birds of the genus Sappho, having very bright-colored and deeply forked tails; -- called also firetail. [See Sapphic.]
- commentary n.
- A series of comments or annotations; esp., a book of explanations or expositions on the whole or a part of the Scriptures or of some other work. [L. commentarius, commentarium, note book, commentary: cf. F. commentaire. See Comment, v. i.]
- gradus n.
- A dictionary of prosody, designed as an aid in writing Greek or Latin poetry. [From L. gradus ad Parnassum a step to Parnassus.]
- yore adv.
- In time long past; in old time; long since. [OE. , yare, , AS. geára;akin to geár a year, E. year. Year.]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- twill v. i.
- To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface. [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Classical Walk is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed. [selected], Project Gutenberg ebook #71008; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Winthrop Mackworth Praed, A Classical Walk, in Poems (1820–1839), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71008, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/praed-poems/a-classical-walk.html, id L10191.
Form and metre
A Classical Walk is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 creekA · watersB · greekA · daughtersB · shoreC · usD · loreC · usD
- 2 ABABCDCD grieveA · slumbersB · weaveA · numbersB · weptC · returningD · keptC · burningD
- 3 ABABCDCD skyA · usB · iA · gradusB · loreC · sagesD · yoreC · pagesD
- 4 ABABCDCD doneA · onB · oneA · onB · glowsC · usD · knowsC · usD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oh, yes! beside that moonlit creek, | 8 | ··˘/·/·· |
| Where sleep the silent waters, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| I’ll teach thee all I know of Greek, | 8 | ········ |
| Young queen of beauty’s daughters! | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| And each sweet eve, by that lone shore, | 8 | ········ |
| Where no rude step can fright us, | 7 | ······· |
| We’ll cull sweet flowers of classic lore, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| With the young stars to light us! | 7 | ······· |
| I’ll teach thee how the billows grieve, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Where Lesbian Sappho slumbers, | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| How young Catullus used to weave | 8 | ········ |
| Fresh heart-sighs with his numbers: | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| How Ariadne sighed and wept, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And watched her love’s returning; | 8 | ··˘··˘/˘ |
| And the young maid of Sestos kept | 8 | ········ |
| Her love-lamp ever burning. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| There by the light the quiet sky | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And the soft stars have made us, | 7 | ······· |
| Thou for my Commentary;--I | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| Thy Lexicon and Gradus;-- | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| We’ll con each page of that bright lore, | 8 | ········ |
| Love taught those maiden sages | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Who read in Paphos’ bowers of yore, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| With moonlight on the pages! | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| And if, ere half our walk be done, | 8 | ····/··· |
| Some ruined fane we light on, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Which love once warmed,--some little one | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That moonlight then is bright on; | 7 | ·/····· |
| We’ll kneel--and should some spark that glows | 8 | ········ |
| Still round the altar, reach us, | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| And light our hearts--Heaven only knows | 8 | ··/·//˘· |
| What wondrous things ’twill teach us! | 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.