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[Caradoc]


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[Caradoc]


1 Have ye seen the tusky boar,
2 Or the bull, with sullen roar,
3 On surrounding foes advance?
4 So Caradoc bore his lance.

Expanding the poem lines (+) shows the results of a computationally facilitated analysis of the text. These results should be considered as a basis for deeper interpretative enquiry such as can be found in the notes and queries.

0 [Caradoc]

Metrical notation:  +-|+-|+-|+/ +-|+-|+-|+/ +-|+-|+-|+/ +-|+-|+-|+/
Metrical foot type:  trochaic (+-)
Metrical foot number:  tetrameter (4 feet) (catalectic)
Rhyme scheme:  aabb
Rhyme (stanza position):  pair (aabb)
Syllable pattern:  7.7.7.7
Stanza:  quatrain (4 lines)

Notation symbols: | (foot boundary), || (caesura), / (metrical line boundary), + (metrically prominent), - (metrically non-prominent)


1 Have ye seen the tusky boar,    
Rhyme:  aabb   |   Rhyme word(s):  boar   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  +-|+-|+-|+/   |   Syllables:  7
Figure:  assonance (phonological): ye/seen /iː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): seen/tusky /s/

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2 Or the bull, with sullen roar,    
Rhyme:  aabb   |   Rhyme word(s):  roar   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɔː/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  +-|+-|+-|+/   |   Syllables:  7
Figure:  assonance (phonological): Or/roar /ɔː/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): bull/sullen /l/

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3 On surrounding foes advance?    
Rhyme:  aabb   |   Rhyme word(s):  advance   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːns/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  +-|+-|+-|+/   |   Syllables:  7
Figure:  assonance (phonological): surrounding/advance /ə/
Figure:  consonance (phonological): On/surrounding/advance /n/

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4 So Caradoc bore his lance.    
Rhyme:  aabb   |   Rhyme word(s):  lance   |   Rhyme sound:  /ɑːns/   |   Rhyme (line position):  end
Metre:  +-|+-|+-|+/   |   Syllables:  7

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Expanding the poem lines (+) shows notes and queries taken from various critical editions of Gray's works, as well as those contributed by users of the Archive. There are 1 textual and 2 explanatory notes/queries.

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0 [Caradoc] 1 Textual

Title/Paratext] "This and the following are [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1891.

"This and the following are Imitations from the Welsh, and were first published in the Notes at the end of Mason's edition."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1891, 262.

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1 Have ye seen the tusky boar, 1 Explanatory

1.5 tusky] "In Webster's "Dictionary" another instance [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1891.

"In Webster's "Dictionary" another instance is given from Dryden:—

"The scar indented by the tusky boar.""

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1891, 262.

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2 Or the bull, with sullen roar, 1 Explanatory

2.5 sullen] "sullen originally meant lonely (through [...]" J. Bradshaw, 1891.

"sullen originally meant lonely (through the French from the Lat. solus); hence gloomy; Milton applies it to a wintry day, and Gray follows him in speaking of the "sullen year," "Ode on Vicissitude," 21; "with sullen roar" he also takes from Milton:—

"I hear the far-off curfew sound,
Over some wide-watered shore,
Swinging slow with sullen roar."—Il Penseroso, 76."

The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1891, 262.

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3 On surrounding foes advance?
4 So Caradoc bore his lance.

Works cited

  • The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray: English and Latin. Edited with an introduction, life, notes and a bibliography by John Bradshaw. The Aldine edition of the British poets series. London: George Bell and sons, 1891.

Spelling has been modernized throughout, except in case of conscious archaisms. Contractions, italics and initial capitalization have been largely eliminated, except where of real import. Obvious errors have been silently corrected, punctuation has been supplied. The editor would like to express his gratitude to the library staff of the Göttingen State and University Library (SUB Göttingen) for their invaluable assistance.

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Editions in the Digital Library

  • 1775: The Poems of Mr. Gray. To which are prefixed Memoirs of his Life and Writings by W[illiam]. Mason. York, 1775.
  • 1800: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1800.
  • 1800: The Poems of Gray. A new edition. London, 1800.
  • 1814: The Works of Thomas Gray, Vol. I. Ed. Thomas James Mathias. London, 1814.
  • 1816: The Works of Thomas Gray, Vol. I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1816.
  • 1826: The Poetical Works of Thomas Gray. London, 1826.
  • 1836: The Works of Thomas Gray, Volume I. Ed. John Mitford. London, 1836.