[Translation from Statius, Thebaid IX 319-26]
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[Translation from Statius, Thebaid IX 319-26]
1 Crenaeus, whom the nymph Ismenis bore
2 To Faunus on the Theban river's shore,
3 With new-born heat amidst his native stream
4 Exults in arms, which cast an iron gleam.
5 In this clear wave he first beheld the day;
6 On the green bank first taught his steps to stray,
7 To skim the parent flood and on the margin play:
8 Fear he disdains and scorns the power of fate,
9 Secure within his mother's watery state.
10 The youth exulting stems the bloody tide,
11 Visits each bank and stalks with martial pride,
12 While old Ismenus' gently-rolling wave
13 Delights the favourite youth within its flood to lave.
14 Whether the youth obliquely steers his course
15 Or cuts the downward stream with equal force,
16 The indulgent river strives his steps to aid.
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[Translation from Statius, Thebaid IX 319-26] Skip to next line
Metrical notation: irregular
Metrical foot type: iambic (-+)
Metrical foot number: pentameter (5 feet), hexameter (6 feet)
Rhyme scheme: aa
Rhyme (stanza position): pair (aabb)
Stanza: couplet (2 lines)
Metrical foot type: iambic (-+)
Metrical foot number: pentameter (5 feet), hexameter (6 feet)
Rhyme scheme: aa
Rhyme (stanza position): pair (aabb)
Stanza: couplet (2 lines)
Notation symbols: | (foot boundary), || (caesura), / (metrical line boundary), + (metrically prominent), - (metrically non-prominent)
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): bore | Rhyme sound: /ɔː/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: assonance (phonological): nymph/Ismenis /ɪ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Crenaeus/nymph /n/
Figure: consonance (phonological): whom/nymph /m/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): shore | Rhyme sound: /ɔː/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: assonance (phonological): Faunus/shore /ɔː/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Faunus/on /n/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): stream | Rhyme sound: /iːm/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: alliteration (phonological): new-born/native /n/
Figure: alliteration (phonological): heat/his /h/
Figure: assonance (phonological): With/amidst/his /ɪ/
Figure: assonance (phonological): heat/stream /iː/
Figure: consonance (phonological): new-born/native /n/
Figure: consonance (phonological): heat/his /h/
Figure: consonance (phonological): heat/native /t/
Figure: consonance (phonological): amidst/stream /m/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): gleam | Rhyme sound: /iːm/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: assonance (phonological): Exults/in/which /ɪ/
Figure: assonance (phonological): arms/cast /ɑː/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Exults/gleam /g/
Figure: consonance (phonological): in/iron /n/
Figure: consonance (phonological): arms/gleam /m/
Rhyme: aaa | Rhyme word(s): day | Rhyme sound: /eɪ/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Stanza: triplet (3 lines)
Stanza: triplet (3 lines)
Figure: assonance (phonological): In/this/beheld /ɪ/
Figure: assonance (phonological): wave/day /eɪ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): this/first /s/
Figure: consonance (phonological): he/beheld /h/
Rhyme: aaa | Rhyme word(s): stray | Rhyme sound: /eɪ/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Stanza: triplet (3 lines)
Stanza: triplet (3 lines)
Figure: alliteration (phonological): steps/stray /s/
Figure: consonance (phonological): On/green /n/
Figure: consonance (phonological): first/steps/stray /s/
Rhyme: aaa | Rhyme word(s): play | Rhyme sound: /eɪ/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Stanza: triplet (3 lines)
Stanza: triplet (3 lines)
Figure: alliteration (phonological): parent/play /p/
Figure: consonance (phonological): skim/margin /m/
Figure: consonance (phonological): parent/play /p/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): fate | Rhyme sound: /eɪt/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: alliteration (phonological): Fear/fate /f/
Figure: assonance (phonological): disdains/fate /eɪ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Fear/fate /f/
Figure: consonance (phonological): disdains/scorns /n/
Figure: consonance (phonological): disdains/scorns /s/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): state | Rhyme sound: /eɪt/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: alliteration (phonological): Secure/state /s/
Figure: alliteration (phonological): within/watery /w/
Figure: assonance (phonological): Secure/within/his /ɪ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Secure/state /s/
Figure: consonance (phonological): within/watery /w/
Figure: consonance (phonological): within/mother's /ð/
Figure: consonance (phonological): watery/state /t/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): tide | Rhyme sound: /aɪd/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: assonance (phonological): exulting/bloody /ʌ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): bloody/tide /d/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): pride | Rhyme sound: /aɪd/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: assonance (phonological): Visits/with /ɪ/
Figure: assonance (phonological): bank/and /æ/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): wave | Rhyme sound: /eɪv/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: alliteration (phonological): While/wave /w/
Figure: assonance (phonological): old/gently-rolling /əʊ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): While/old/gently-rolling /l/
Figure: consonance (phonological): While/wave /w/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): lave | Rhyme sound: /eɪv/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: alliteration (phonological): favourite/flood /f/
Figure: assonance (phonological): favourite/lave /eɪ/
Figure: assonance (phonological): youth/to /uː/
Figure: assonance (phonological): within/its /ɪ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Delights/lave /l/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Delights/flood /d/
Figure: consonance (phonological): Delights/its /t/
Figure: consonance (phonological): favourite/lave /v/
Figure: consonance (phonological): favourite/flood /f/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): course | Rhyme sound: /ɔːs/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: consonance (phonological): obliquely/course /k/
Figure: consonance (phonological): steers/his /z/
Figure: consonance (phonological): steers/course /s/
Rhyme: aa | Rhyme word(s): force | Rhyme sound: /ɔːs/ | Rhyme (line position): end
Figure: assonance (phonological): Or/force /ɔː/
Figure: assonance (phonological): stream/equal /iː/
Figure: consonance (phonological): cuts/equal /k/
Figure: consonance (phonological): stream/force /s/
16 The indulgent river strives his steps to aid.
Rhyme: x |
Figure: alliteration (phonological): strives/steps /s/
Figure: assonance (phonological): indulgent/river/his /ɪ/
Figure: consonance (phonological): indulgent/aid /d/
Figure: consonance (phonological): river/strives /v/
Figure: consonance (phonological): strives/steps /s/
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 0 textual and 1 explanatory notes/queries.
[Translation from Statius, Thebaid IX 319-26] 1 Explanatory Skip to next line
Title/Paratext] "The date of these verses [...]" H.W. Starr/J.R. Hendrickson, 1966.
"The date of these verses is unknown, but their nature and Walpole's statement that they were written when Gray was very young suggest that they may have been a school exercise composed when he was at Eton (c. 1725-34). If so, they are probably his earliest extant English verse."
The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966, 231.16 The indulgent river strives his steps to aid.
Works cited
- The Complete Poems of Thomas Gray: English, Latin and Greek. Edited by Herbert W. Starr and J. R. Hendrickson. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1966.
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.