Fragments Supposed to Be Parts of Otho
Those whom nor power, nor lying faith, nor toil,Nor custom, queen of many slaves, makes blind,Have ever grieved that man should be the spoilOf his own weakness, and with earnest mindFed hopes of its redemption; these recurChastened by deathful victory now, and findFoundations in this foulest age, and stirMe whom they cheer to be their minister.
Dark is the realm of grief: but human thingsThose may not know who cannot weep for them.
Once more descendThe shadows of my soul upon mankind,For to those hearts with which they never blend,Thoughts are but shadows which the flashing mindFrom the swift clouds which track its flight of fire,Casts on the gloomy world it leaves behind.
Words in this poem
- recur v. i.
- To come back; to return again or repeatedly; to come again to mind. [L. recurrere; pref.re- re- + currere to run. See Current.]
- chastened a.
- Corrected; disciplined; refined; purified; toned down. Sir. W.
- deathful a.
- Full of death or slaughter; murderous; destructive; bloody.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Fragments Supposed to Be Parts of Otho is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #4798; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Fragments Supposed to Be Parts of Otho, in The Complete Poetical Works, Volume II (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/fragments-supposed-to-be-parts-of-otho.html, id L16322.
Form and metre
Fragments Supposed to Be Parts of Otho is 16 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 50% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 ABABCBC- toilA · blindB · spoilA · mindB · recurC · findB · stirC · minister
- 3 ABAB-B descendA · mankindB · blendA · mindB · fire · behindB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Those whom nor power, nor lying faith, nor toil, | 10 | ···/·/˘··· |
| Nor custom, queen of many slaves, makes blind, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Have ever grieved that man should be the spoil | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Of his own weakness, and with earnest mind | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Fed hopes of its redemption; these recur | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Chastened by deathful victory now, and find | 10 | /˘·/˘/˘··· |
| Foundations in this foulest age, and stir | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Me whom they cheer to be their minister. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Dark is the realm of grief: but human things | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Those may not know who cannot weep for them. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Once more descend | 4 | ··˘/ |
| The shadows of my soul upon mankind, | 10 | ·/······// |
| For to those hearts with which they never blend, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thoughts are but shadows which the flashing mind | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| From the swift clouds which track its flight of fire, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Casts on the gloomy world it leaves behind. | 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.