"There Is a Bondage Worse, Far Worse, to Bear"
Included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; renamed in 1845,
There is a bondage worse, far worse, to bearThan his who breathes, by roof, and floor, and wall,Pent in, a Tyrant's solitary Thrall:'Tis his who walks about in the open air,One of a Nation who, henceforth, must wearTheir fetters in their souls. For who could be,Who, even the best, in such condition, freeFrom self-reproach, reproach that he must shareWith Human-nature? Never be it oursTo see the sun how brightly it will shine,And know that noble feelings, manly powers,Instead of gathering strength, must droop and pine;And earth with all her pleasant fruits and flowersFade, and participate in man's decline.
Words in this poem
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"There Is a Bondage Worse, Far Worse, to Bear" 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, "There Is a Bondage Worse, Far Worse, to Bear", in The Poetical Works, Volume II (1798–1807), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #12145, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/wordsworth-vol2/there-is-a-bondage-worse-far-worse-to-bear.html, id L17397.
Form and metre
"There Is a Bondage Worse, Far Worse, to Bear" is 15 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.4 syllables. 40% 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.
- 2 ABBAACCADEDEDE bearA · wallB · thrallB · airA · wearA · beC · freeC · shareA · oursD · shineE · powersD · pineE · flowersD · declineE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Included among the "Sonnets dedicated to Liberty"; renamed in 1845, | 16 | ˘/˘···/˘/˘·/˘˘/· |
| There is a bondage worse, far worse, to bear | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Than his who breathes, by roof, and floor, and wall, | 10 | ·········· |
| Pent in, a Tyrant's solitary Thrall: | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘· |
| 'Tis his who walks about in the open air, | 11 | ········/˘· |
| One of a Nation who, henceforth, must wear | 10 | ···/˘·//·· |
| Their fetters in their souls. For who could be, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Who, even the best, in such condition, free | 10 | ·/····˘/˘· |
| From self-reproach, reproach that he must share | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| With Human-nature? Never be it ours | 9 | ·/˘/˘/··/ |
| To see the sun how brightly it will shine, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And know that noble feelings, manly powers, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘/ |
| Instead of gathering strength, must droop and pine; | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| And earth with all her pleasant fruits and flowers | 10 | ·····/˘··/ |
| Fade, and participate in man's decline. | 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.