Scene from 'Tasso'
MADDALO:No access to the Duke! You have not saidThat the Count Maddalo would speak with him?
PIGNA:Did you inform his Grace that Signor PignaWaits with state papers for his signature?
MALPIGLIO:The Lady Leonora cannot knowThat I have written a sonnet to her fame,In which I ... Venus and Adonis.You should not take my gold and serve me not.
ALBANO:In truth I told her, and she smiled and said,'If I am Venus, thou, coy Poesy,Art the Adonis whom I love, and heThe Erymanthian boar that wounded him.'O trust to me, Signor Malpiglio,Those nods and smiles were favours worth the zechin.
MALPIGLIO:The words are twisted in some double senseThat I reach not: the smiles fell not on me.
PIGNA:How are the Duke and Duchess occupied?
ALBANO:Buried in some strange talk. The Duke was leaning,His finger on his brow, his lips unclosed.The Princess sate within the window-seat,And so her face was hid; but on her kneeHer hands were clasped, veined, and pale as snow,And quivering--young Tasso, too, was there.
MADDALO:Thou seest on whom from thine own worshipped heavenThou drawest down smiles--they did not rain on thee.
MALPIGLIO:Would they were parching lightnings for his sakeOn whom they fell!
Words in this poem
- duke n.
- A leader; a chief; a prince. [F. duc, fr. L. dux, ducis, leader, commander, fr. ducere to lead; akin to AS. teón to draw; cf. AS. heretoga (here army) an army leader, general, G. herzog duke]
- signor n.
- Sir; Mr; -- a title of address or respect among the Italians. [It. See Seignior.]
- sonnet n.
- A short poem, -- usually amatory. [F., fr. It. sonetto, fr. suono a sound, a song, fr. L. sonus a sound. See Sound noise.]
- poesy n.
- The art of composing poems; poetical skill or faculty; as, the heavenly gift of poesy. [F. poésie (cf. It. poesia), L. poesis, from Gr. Posy.]
- duchess n.
- The wife or widow of a duke; also, a lady who has the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. [F. duchesse, fr. duc duke.]
- unclosed a.
- Not separated by inclosures; open. Clarendon. [Pref. un- not + closed.]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- parching a.
- Scorching; burning; drying.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Scene from 'Tasso' 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, Scene from 'Tasso', in Ode to the West Wind, and Other Poems (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/scene-from-tasso.html, id L16338.
Form and metre
Scene from 'Tasso' is 36 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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.
- 2 AA- pignaA · pignaA · signature
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MADDALO: | 3 | ··· |
| No access to the Duke! You have not said | 10 | ·/········ |
| That the Count Maddalo would speak with him? | 10 | ·········· |
| PIGNA: | 2 | ·· |
| Did you inform his Grace that Signor Pigna | 11 | ··˘/···/˘·· |
| Waits with state papers for his signature? | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| MALPIGLIO: | 3 | ··· |
| The Lady Leonora cannot know | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| That I have written a sonnet to her fame, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘··· |
| In which I ... Venus and Adonis. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| You should not take my gold and serve me not. | 10 | ·········· |
| ALBANO: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| In truth I told her, and she smiled and said, | 10 | ·········· |
| 'If I am Venus, thou, coy Poesy, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Art the Adonis whom I love, and he | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The Erymanthian boar that wounded him.' | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O trust to me, Signor Malpiglio, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Those nods and smiles were favours worth the zechin. | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| MALPIGLIO: | 3 | ··· |
| The words are twisted in some double sense | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| That I reach not: the smiles fell not on me. | 10 | ·········· |
| PIGNA: | 2 | ·· |
| How are the Duke and Duchess occupied? | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| ALBANO: | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Buried in some strange talk. The Duke was leaning, | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| His finger on his brow, his lips unclosed. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The Princess sate within the window-seat, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And so her face was hid; but on her knee | 10 | ·········· |
| Her hands were clasped, veined, and pale as snow, | 10 | ····˘····· |
| And quivering--young Tasso, too, was there. | 10 | ·/˘˘·/···· |
| MADDALO: | 3 | ··· |
| Thou seest on whom from thine own worshipped heaven | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| Thou drawest down smiles--they did not rain on thee. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| MALPIGLIO: | 3 | ··· |
| Would they were parching lightnings for his sake | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| On whom they fell! | 4 | ···· |
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