At the Grave of Charles Lamb, in Edmonton
Not here, O teeming City, was it meetThy lover, thy most faithful, should repose,But where the multitudinous life-tide flowsWhose ocean-murmur was to him more sweetThan melody of birds at morn, or bleatOf flocks in Spring-time, there should Earth encloseHis earth, amid thy thronging joys and woes,There, 'neath the music of thy million feet.In love of thee this lover knew no peer.Thine eastern or thy western fane had madeFit habitation for his noble shade.Mother of mightier, nurse of none more dear,Not here, in rustic exile, O not here,Thy Elia like an alien should be laid!
Words in this poem
- teeming a.
- Prolific; productive.
- multitudinous a.
- Consisting of a multitude; manifold in number or condition; as, multitudinous waves.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- bleat v. i.
- To make the noise of, or one like that of, a sheep; to cry like a sheep or calf. [OE. bleten, AS. bl; akin to D. blaten, bleeten, OHG. blazan, plazan; prob. of imitative origin.]
- enclose v. t.
- To inclose. See Inclose. [F. enclos, p. p. of enclore to enclose; pref. en- (L. in) + clore to close. See Close, and cf. Inclose, Include.]
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- fane n.
- A temple; a place consecrated to religion; a church. [L. fanum a place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak. See Fame.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
At the Grave of Charles Lamb, in Edmonton is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of William Watson, Project Gutenberg ebook #13179; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Watson, At the Grave of Charles Lamb, in Edmonton, in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/at-the-grave-of-charles-lamb-in-edmonton.html, id L11334.
Form and metre
At the Grave of Charles Lamb, in Edmonton is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 43% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 ABBAABBACDDCCD meetA · reposeB · flowsB · sweetA · bleatA · encloseB · woesB · feetA · peerC · madeD · shadeD · dearC · hereC · laidD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Not here, O teeming City, was it meet | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Thy lover, thy most faithful, should repose, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| But where the multitudinous life-tide flows | 11 | ··········· |
| Whose ocean-murmur was to him more sweet | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Than melody of birds at morn, or bleat | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Of flocks in Spring-time, there should Earth enclose | 10 | ········˘/ |
| His earth, amid thy thronging joys and woes, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| There, 'neath the music of thy million feet. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| In love of thee this lover knew no peer. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Thine eastern or thy western fane had made | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Fit habitation for his noble shade. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Mother of mightier, nurse of none more dear, | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Not here, in rustic exile, O not here, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| Thy Elia like an alien should be laid! | 11 | ·˘/˘··/˘··· |
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.