"It Is Not to Be Thought of That the Flood"
It is not to be thought of that the FloodOf British freedom, which, to the open seaOf the world's praise, from dark antiquityHath flowed, "with pomp of waters, unwithstood,"Roused though it be full often to a moodWhich spurns the check of salutary bands,That this most famous Stream in bogs and sandsShould perish; and to evil and to goodBe lost for ever. In our halls is hungArmoury of the invincible Knights of old:We must be free or die, who speak the tongueThat Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals holdWhich Milton held.--In every thing we are sprungOf Earth's first blood, have titles manifold.
About this text
"It Is Not to Be Thought of That the Flood" 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, "It Is Not to Be Thought of That the Flood", in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/it-is-not-to-be-thought-of-that-the-flood.html, id L17368.
Form and metre
"It Is Not to Be Thought of That the Flood" is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 71% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 1 A--AABBACDCDCD floodA · sea · antiquity · unwithstoodA · moodA · bandsB · sandsB · goodA · hungC · oldD · tongueC · holdD · sprungC · manifoldD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| It is not to be thought of that the Flood | 10 | ·········· |
| Of British freedom, which, to the open sea | 11 | ·/˘/˘···/˘· |
| Of the world's praise, from dark antiquity | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Hath flowed, "with pomp of waters, unwithstood," | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Roused though it be full often to a mood | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Which spurns the check of salutary bands, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| That this most famous Stream in bogs and sands | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Should perish; and to evil and to good | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| Be lost for ever. In our halls is hung | 9 | ···/·/··· |
| Armoury of the invincible Knights of old: | 11 | ·····˘/˘··· |
| We must be free or die, who speak the tongue | 10 | ·········· |
| That Shakespeare spake; the faith and morals hold | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| Which Milton held.--In every thing we are sprung | 11 | ·/˘··/˘···· |
| Of Earth's first blood, have titles manifold. | 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.