Written Under a Picture of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge
Most beautiful! I gaze and gazeIn silence on the glorious pile,And the glad thoughts of other daysCome thronging back the while.To me dim memory makes more dearThe perfect grandeur of the shrine;But if I stood a stranger here,The ground were still divine.
Some awe the good and wise have felt,As reverently their feet have trodOn any spot where man hath kneltTo commune with his God;By sacred spring, or haunted well,Beneath the ruined temple’s gloom,Beside the feeble hermit’s cell,Or the false Prophet’s tomb.
But when was high devotion gracedWith lovelier dwelling, loftier throne,Than here the limner’s art hath gracedFrom the time-honoured stone?The Spirit here of worship seemsTo bind the soul in willing thrall,And heavenward hopes and holy dreamsCome at her voiceless call;
At midnight, when the lonely moonLooks from a vapour’s silvery fold;At morning, when the sun of JuneCrests the high towers with gold;For every change of hour and formMakes that fair scene more deeply fair,And dusk and daybreak, calm and storm,Are all Religion there.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- reverently adv.
- In a reverent manner; in respectful regard.
- commune n.
- The commonalty; the common people. [F., fr. commun. See Common.]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- voiceless a.
- Having no voice, utterance, or vote; silent; mute; dumb.
- vapour n.
- Any substance in the gaseous, or aëriform, state, the condition of which is ordinarily that of a liquid or solid. [OE. vapour, OF. vapour, vapor, vapeur, F. vapeur, L. vapor; probably for cvapor, and akin to Gr. kvepti to breathe, smell, Russ. kopote fine soot. Cf. Vapid.]
- daybreak n.
- The time of the first appearance of light in the morning.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written Under a Picture of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge 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, Written Under a Picture of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, in Poems (1820–1839), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71008, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/praed-poems/written-under-a-picture-of-king-s-college-chapel-cambridge.html, id L10238.
Form and metre
Written Under a Picture of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge 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 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 38% 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 gazeA · pileB · daysA · whileB · dearC · shrineD · hereC · divineD
- 2 ABABCDCD feltA · trodB · kneltA · godB · wellC · gloomD · cellC · tombD
- 3 ABABCDCD gracedA · throneB · gracedA · stoneB · seemsC · thrallD · dreamsC · callD
- 4 ABABCDCD moonA · foldB · juneA · goldB · formC · fairD · stormC · thereD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Most beautiful! I gaze and gaze | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| In silence on the glorious pile, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And the glad thoughts of other days | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Come thronging back the while. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| To me dim memory makes more dear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The perfect grandeur of the shrine; | 8 | ·˘/˘/··· |
| But if I stood a stranger here, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The ground were still divine. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Some awe the good and wise have felt, | 8 | ········ |
| As reverently their feet have trod | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| On any spot where man hath knelt | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To commune with his God; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| By sacred spring, or haunted well, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Beneath the ruined temple’s gloom, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Beside the feeble hermit’s cell, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Or the false Prophet’s tomb. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But when was high devotion graced | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| With lovelier dwelling, loftier throne, | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| Than here the limner’s art hath graced | 8 | ········ |
| From the time-honoured stone? | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| The Spirit here of worship seems | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To bind the soul in willing thrall, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And heavenward hopes and holy dreams | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Come at her voiceless call; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| At midnight, when the lonely moon | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| Looks from a vapour’s silvery fold; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| At morning, when the sun of June | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Crests the high towers with gold; | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| For every change of hour and form | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Makes that fair scene more deeply fair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And dusk and daybreak, calm and storm, | 8 | ···/···· |
| Are all Religion there. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
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.