Strephon’s Song (From “The Cruel Shepherdess”)
When I was not much olderThan Cupid, but bolder,I asked of his Mother in passing her bowerWhat it was in their blindnessMen asked of her kindnessAnd she said it was nought but a delicate flower:Such a delicate, delicate, delicate flower!
This morning you kissed me,By noon you dismissed meAs though such great things were the jest of one hour,And you left me still wonderingIf I were not too blunderingTo deal with that delicate, delicate flower:’Tis such a delicate, delicate, delicate flower!
For if that’s the complexionOf Ladies’ affectionI must needs be a fool to remain in their power;But there’s that in me burningWhich brings me returningTo beg for the delicate, delicate flower;To implore for that delicate, delicate flower!
Words in this poem
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- jest n.
- A deed; an action; a gest. [OE. jeste, geste, deed, action, story, tale, OF. geste, LL. gesta, orig., exploits, neut. pl. from L. gestus, p. p. of gerere to bear, carry, accomplish, perfor]
- complexion n.
- The state of being complex; complexity. [F. complexion, fr. L. complexio. See Complex, a.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Strephon’s Song (From “The Cruel Shepherdess”) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Sonnets and Verse, Project Gutenberg ebook #60663; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Hilaire Belloc, Strephon’s Song (From “The Cruel Shepherdess”), in Sonnets and Verse (1923), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #60663, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/belloc-sonnets-verse/strephon-s-song-from-the-cruel-shepherdess.html, id L21694.
Form and metre
Strephon’s Song (From “The Cruel Shepherdess”) is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes AABCCBB. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 AABCCBB olderA · bolderA · bowerB · blindnessC · kindnessC · flowerB · flowerB
- 2 AABCCBB meA · meA · hourB · wonderingC · blunderingC · flowerB · flowerB
- 3 AABCCBB complexionA · affectionA · powerB · burningC · returningC · flowerB · flowerB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| When I was not much older | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Than Cupid, but bolder, | 6 | ·/˘·/˘ |
| I asked of his Mother in passing her bower | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·/ |
| What it was in their blindness | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Men asked of her kindness | 7 | ··˘··/˘ |
| And she said it was nought but a delicate flower: | 11 | ········/˘/ |
| Such a delicate, delicate, delicate flower! | 9 | ··/˘/˘/˘/ |
| This morning you kissed me, | 7 | ·/˘··˘· |
| By noon you dismissed me | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| As though such great things were the jest of one hour, | 11 | ··········/ |
| And you left me still wondering | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| If I were not too blundering | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| To deal with that delicate, delicate flower: | 9 | ····/˘/˘/ |
| ’Tis such a delicate, delicate, delicate flower! | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘/ |
| For if that’s the complexion | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Of Ladies’ affection | 6 | ·/·˘/˘ |
| I must needs be a fool to remain in their power; | 12 | ·······˘/··/ |
| But there’s that in me burning | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Which brings me returning | 6 | ···˘/˘ |
| To beg for the delicate, delicate flower; | 9 | ····/˘/˘/ |
| To implore for that delicate, delicate flower! | 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.