A Character
Inscription for the spot where the Hermitage stood on St. Herbert'sIsland, Derwent-Water
Written with a Pencil upon a Stone in the Wall of the House (anOut-House), on the Island at Grasmere
Words in this poem
- hermitage n.
- The habitation of a hermit; a secluded residence. [OE. hermitage, ermitage, F. hermitage, ermitage. See Hermit.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Character is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth — Volume 2 (of 8), Project Gutenberg ebook #12145; 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 Wordsworth, A Character, in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/a-character.html, id L17282.
Form and metre
A Character is 4 lines in 2 stanzas of 2 lines each. The lines average 11.8 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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.
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Inscription for the spot where the Hermitage stood on St. Herbert's | 15 | ˘/˘·····/˘···/˘ |
| Island, Derwent-Water | 6 | /˘··/˘ |
| Written with a Pencil upon a Stone in the Wall of the House (an | 17 | /˘··/˘··········· |
| Out-House), on the Island at Grasmere | 9 | ····/˘··· |
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.