Virg
Round thee, alas, no shadows move!From thee no sacred murmurs breathe!Yet within thee, thyself a grove,Once did the eagle scream above,And the wolf howl beneath.
There once the steel-clad knight reclin’d,His sable plumage tempest-toss’d;And, as the death-bell smote the wind,From towers long fled by human kind,His brow the hero cross’d!
Then Culture came, and days serene,And village-sports, and garlands gay.Full many a pathway cross’d the green;And maids and shepherd-youths were seen,To celebrate the May.
Father of many a forest deep,(Whence many a navy thunder-fraught)Erst in their acorn-cells asleep,Soon destin’d o’er the world to sweep,Opening new spheres of thought!
Wont in the night of woods to dwell,The holy druid saw thee rise;And, planting there the guardian-spell,Sung forth, the dreadful pomp to swellOf human sacrifice!
Thy singed top and branches bareNow straggle in the evening sky;And the wan moon wheels round to glareOn the long corse that shivers thereOf him who came to die!
Words in this poem
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- sable n.
- A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
- pathway n.
- A footpath; a beaten track; any path or course. Also used figuratively.
- fraught n.
- A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- druid n.
- One of an order of priests which in ancient times existed among certain branches of the Celtic race, especially among the Gauls and Britons. [L. Druides; of Celtic origin; cf. Ir. & Gael. draoi, druidh, magician, Druid, W. derwydd Druid.]
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- straggle v. i.
- To wander from the direct course or way; to rove; to stray; to wander from the line of march or desert the line of battle; as, when troops are on the march, the men should not straggle. [Freq. of OE. straken to roam, to stroke. See Stroke, v. t.]
- glare v. i.
- To shine with a bright, dazzling light. [OE. glaren, gloren; cf. AS. glær amber, LG. glaren to glow or burn like coals, D. gloren to glimmer; prob. akin to E. glass.]
- corse n.
- A living body or its bulk. [OF. cors, F. corps. See Corpse.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Virg is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #13586; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Rogers, Virg, in Poems (1792–1834), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rogers-poems/virg.html, id L09728.
Form and metre
Virg is 30 lines in 6 stanzas of 5 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAAB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.8 syllables. 13% 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 A--A- moveA · breathe · grove · aboveA · beneath
- 2 ABAAB reclin'dA · toss'dB · windA · kindA · cross'dB
- 3 ABAAB sereneA · gayB · greenA · seenA · mayB
- 4 ABAAB deepA · fraughtB · asleepA · sweepA · thoughtB
- 5 A-AA- dwellA · rise · spellA · swellA · sacrifice
- 6 ABAAB bareA · skyB · glareA · thereA · dieB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Round thee, alas, no shadows move! | 8 | ··˘/·/·· |
| From thee no sacred murmurs breathe! | 9 | ···/˘˘/˘· |
| Yet within thee, thyself a grove, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Once did the eagle scream above, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And the wolf howl beneath. | 6 | ······ |
| There once the steel-clad knight reclin’d, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| His sable plumage tempest-toss’d; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| And, as the death-bell smote the wind, | 8 | ········ |
| From towers long fled by human kind, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| His brow the hero cross’d! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Then Culture came, and days serene, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And village-sports, and garlands gay. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Full many a pathway cross’d the green; | 9 | ·/˘·/···· |
| And maids and shepherd-youths were seen, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To celebrate the May. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Father of many a forest deep, | 9 | /˘·/˘·/˘· |
| (Whence many a navy thunder-fraught) | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘· |
| Erst in their acorn-cells asleep, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Soon destin’d o’er the world to sweep, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Opening new spheres of thought! | 7 | /˘˘···· |
| Wont in the night of woods to dwell, | 8 | ········ |
| The holy druid saw thee rise; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And, planting there the guardian-spell, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘˘· |
| Sung forth, the dreadful pomp to swell | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of human sacrifice! | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Thy singed top and branches bare | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Now straggle in the evening sky; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And the wan moon wheels round to glare | 8 | ········ |
| On the long corse that shivers there | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of him who came to die! | 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.