To Edward Clodd
Friend, in whose friendship I am twice well-starred,A debt not time may cancel is your due;For was it not your praise that earliest drew,On me obscure, that chivalrous regard,Ev'n his, who, knowing fame's first steep how hard,With generous lips no faltering clarion blew,Bidding men hearken to a lyre by fewHeeded, nor grudge the bay to one more bard?Bitter the task, year by inglorious year,Of suitor at the world's reluctant ear.One cannot sing for ever, like a bird,For sole delight of singing! Him his mateSuffices, listening with a heart elate;Nor more his joy, if all the rapt heav'n heard.
Words in this poem
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
- clarion n.
- A kind of trumpet, whose note is clear and shrill. [OE. clarioun, OF. clarion, F. clairon, LL. clario, claro; so called from its clear tone, fr. L. clarus clear. See Clear.]
- inglorious a.
- Not glorious; not bringing honor or glory; not accompanied with fame, honor, or celebrity; obscure; humble; as, an inglorious life of ease. [L. inglorious; pref. in- not + gloria glory, fame: cf. F. inglorieux. See Glory.]
- suitor n.
- One who sues, petitions, or entreats; a petitioner; an applicant.
- elate a.
- Lifted up; raised; elevated. [L. elatus elevated, fig., elated, proud (the figure, perh., being borrowed from a prancing horse); e out + latus (used as p. p. of ferre to bear), for tlatus, a]
- rapt n.
- An ecstasy; a trance. Bp. Morton. [From F. rapt abduction, rape, L. raptus, fr. rapere to seize and carry off, to transport; or fr. E. rapt, a. See Rapt, a., and Rapid.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Edward Clodd 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, To Edward Clodd, in The Poems of William Watson (1892–1905), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13179, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/watson-poems/to-edward-clodd.html, id L11284.
Form and metre
To Edward Clodd is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 57% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 14% 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 ABBAABBACCDEED starredA · dueB · drewB · regardA · hardA · blewB · fewB · bardA · yearC · earC · birdD · mateE · elateE · heardD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Friend, in whose friendship I am twice well-starred, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| A debt not time may cancel is your due; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For was it not your praise that earliest drew, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| On me obscure, that chivalrous regard, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘˘/ |
| Ev'n his, who, knowing fame's first steep how hard, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With generous lips no faltering clarion blew, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Bidding men hearken to a lyre by few | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Heeded, nor grudge the bay to one more bard? | 10 | /˘········ |
| Bitter the task, year by inglorious year, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| Of suitor at the world's reluctant ear. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| One cannot sing for ever, like a bird, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| For sole delight of singing! Him his mate | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Suffices, listening with a heart elate; | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Nor more his joy, if all the rapt heav'n heard. | 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.