"Pelion and Ossa Flourish Side by Side"
One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets." From 1836 onwards it bore the title
Pelion and Ossa flourish side by side,Together in immortal books enrolled:His ancient dower Olympus hath not sold;And that inspiring Hill, which "did divideInto two ample horns his forehead wide,"Shines with poetic radiance as of old;While not an English Mountain we beholdBy the celestial Muses glorified.Yet round our sea-girt shore they rise in crowds:What was the great Parnassus' self to Thee,Mount Skiddaw? In his natural sovereigntyOur British Hill is nobler far; he shroudsHis double front among Atlantic clouds,And pours forth streams more sweet than Castaly.
Words in this poem
- 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.]
- skiddaw n.
- The black guillemot.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"Pelion and Ossa Flourish Side by Side" 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, "Pelion and Ossa Flourish Side by Side", in The Brothers, and Other Poems (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/pelion-and-ossa-flourish-side-by-side.html, id L17333.
Form and metre
"Pelion and Ossa Flourish Side by Side" is 15 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% 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.
- 2 ABBAABBAC--CC- sideA · enrolledB · soldB · divideA · wideA · oldB · beholdB · glorifiedA · crowdsC · thee · sovereignty · shroudsC · cloudsC · castaly
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One of the "Miscellaneous Sonnets." From 1836 onwards it bore the title | 17 | ····˘/˘/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| Pelion and Ossa flourish side by side, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Together in immortal books enrolled: | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘·˘/ |
| His ancient dower Olympus hath not sold; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| And that inspiring Hill, which "did divide | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| Into two ample horns his forehead wide," | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Shines with poetic radiance as of old; | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| While not an English Mountain we behold | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| By the celestial Muses glorified. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Yet round our sea-girt shore they rise in crowds: | 10 | ··/······· |
| What was the great Parnassus' self to Thee, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Mount Skiddaw? In his natural sovereignty | 11 | ·/˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Our British Hill is nobler far; he shrouds | 10 | //˘··/˘··· |
| His double front among Atlantic clouds, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| And pours forth streams more sweet than Castaly. | 10 | ·········· |
On this poem
Notes from the edition 4
William Knight's notes to The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Volume 2 (1896; Project Gutenberg #12145): Wordsworth's own Isabella Fenwick notes and Knight's headnotes on composition and publication, plus his lettered footnotes (restarting at A for every poem).
- Stanza 2, line 2 1815. illustrious ... MS.
- Stanza 2, line 5 See Spenser's translation of 'Virgil's Gnat', ll. 21-2: 'Or where on Mount Parnasse, the Muses brood. Doth his broad forehead like two horns divide, And the sweet waves of sounding Castaly With liquid foot doth glide down easily.' Ed.
- Stanza 2, line 12 1837. fairer ... 1815.
- Stanza 2, line 13 1827. His double-fronted head in higher clouds, 1815. ... among Atlantic clouds, MS.
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