Distance from the Place of Our Nativity
Since I married Palemon, though happy my lot,Though my garden is pleasant, and lightsome my cot,Though love's smile, like a sunshine, I constantly see,Those blessings are all insufficient for me,I repine not at labour, I ask not for gold,But I want the sweet eyes of my friends to behold.
With Palemon I think o'er the world I could roam,Though he liv'd in a desert, would make it my home.From him no allurements his Lucy could bribe,And, though timid, no dangers, no menaces drive.But the heart that can love with devotion so true,Is not cold or forgetful, my parents, to you!
Oh idle declaimers! how is it ye say,That affection and tenderness fade and decay?Though so easily pain'd, they endure like a gem,And the heart and the mind imbibe colour from them!In affliction they brighten, in absence refine,And are causes of sorrow too sweet to resign.
Words in this poem
- lightsome a.
- Having light; lighted; not dark or gloomy; bright.
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- repine v. i.
- To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
- bribe n.
- A gift begged; a present. [F. bribe a lump of bread, scraps, leavings of meals (that are generally given to a beggar), LL. briba scrap of bread; cf. OF. briber, brifer, to eat gluttonousl]
- forgetful a.
- Apt to forget; easily losing remembrance; as, a forgetful man should use helps to strengthen his memory.
- brighten v. t.
- To make bright or brighter; to make to shine; to increase the luster of; to give a brighter hue to.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Distance from the Place of Our Nativity is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #9998; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Matilda Betham, Distance from the Place of Our Nativity, in Poems (1808), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9998, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/betham-poems/distance-from-the-place-of-our-nativity.html, id L23529.
Form and metre
Distance from the Place of Our Nativity is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 98%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABBCC lotA · cotA · seeB · meB · goldC · beholdC
- 2 AA--BB roamA · homeA · bribe · drive · trueB · youB
- 3 AABBCC sayA · decayA · gemB · themB · refineC · resignC
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Since I married Palemon, though happy my lot, | 12 | ··/˘····/˘·· |
| Though my garden is pleasant, and lightsome my cot, | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘·· |
| Though love's smile, like a sunshine, I constantly see, | 12 | ·····/··/˘˘· |
| Those blessings are all insufficient for me, | 11 | ·/˘··˘˘/˘·· |
| I repine not at labour, I ask not for gold, | 12 | ·˘/··/······ |
| But I want the sweet eyes of my friends to behold. | 12 | ··········˘/ |
| With Palemon I think o'er the world I could roam, | 12 | ············ |
| Though he liv'd in a desert, would make it my home. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| From him no allurements his Lucy could bribe, | 12 | ········/˘·· |
| And, though timid, no dangers, no menaces drive. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘·/˘˘· |
| But the heart that can love with devotion so true, | 12 | ·······˘/˘·· |
| Is not cold or forgetful, my parents, to you! | 12 | ····˘/˘·/˘·· |
| Oh idle declaimers! how is it ye say, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| That affection and tenderness fade and decay? | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘˘··˘/ |
| Though so easily pain'd, they endure like a gem, | 12 | ··/˘˘··˘/··· |
| And the heart and the mind imbibe colour from them! | 12 | ······˘//˘·· |
| In affliction they brighten, in absence refine, | 12 | ·˘/˘·/˘·/˘˘/ |
| And are causes of sorrow too sweet to resign. | 12 | ··/˘·/˘···˘/ |
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.