The Isle
There was a little lawny isletBy anemone and violet,Like mosaic, paven:And its roof was flowers and leavesWhich the summer's breath enweaves,Where nor sun nor showers nor breezePierce the pines and tallest trees,Each a gem engraven;--Girt by many an azure waveWith which the clouds and mountains paveA lake's blue chasm.
Words in this poem
- lawny a.
- Having a lawn; characterized by a lawn or by lawns; like a lawn.
- islet n.
- A little island. [OF. islette (cf. F. îlot), dim. of isle.]
- girt v. t.
- To gird; to encircle; to invest by means of a girdle; to measure the girth of; as, to girt a tree. [From Girt, n., cf. Girth, v.]
- pave n.
- The pavement. Nymphe du pavé ([A low euphemism.] [F., from paver to pave. See Pave.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Isle 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, The Isle, 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/the-isle.html, id L16488.
Form and metre
The Isle is 11 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, 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 7.3 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 46% 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 AABCCDDBEE- isletA · violetA · pavenB · leavesC · enweavesC · breezeD · treesD · engravenB · waveE · paveE · chasm
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 |
|---|---|---|
| There was a little lawny islet | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| By anemone and violet, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Like mosaic, paven: | 6 | ·˘/˘/˘ |
| And its roof was flowers and leaves | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Which the summer's breath enweaves, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Where nor sun nor showers nor breeze | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Pierce the pines and tallest trees, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Each a gem engraven;-- | 6 | ······ |
| Girt by many an azure wave | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| With which the clouds and mountains pave | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A lake's blue chasm. | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.