A Word to Two Young Ladies
WHEN tender Rose-trees first receiveOn half-expanded Leaves, the Shower;Hope's gayest pictures we believe,And anxious watch each coining flower.
Then, if beneath the genial SunThat spreads abroad the full-blown May,Two infant Stems the rest out-run,Their buds the first to meet the day,
With joy their op'ning tints we view,While morning's precious moments fly:My pretty Maids, 'tis thus with you;The fond admiring gazer, I.
Preserve, sweet Buds, where'er you be;The richest gem that decks a Wife;The charm of female modesty:And let sweet Music give it life.
Still may the favouring Muse be found:Still circumspect the paths ye tread:Plant moral truths in Fancy's ground;And meet old Age without a dread.
Yet, ere that comes, while yet ye quaffThe cup of Health without a pain,I'll shake my grey hairs when you laugh,And, when you sing, be young again.
"Accept, dear Bard, the Muse's genuine thought,And take not ill the tribute of my heart:--For thee the laureat wreath of praise I'll bind,None that have read thy commendable mindCan let it pass unnotic'd--nor can I--For by thy lays I know thy sympathy." F.P.
Words in this poem
- genial a.
- Contributing to, or concerned in, propagation or production; generative; procreative; productive. [L. genialis: cf. OF. genial. See Genius.]
- admiring a.
- Expressing admiration; as, an admiring glance.
- quaff v. t.
- To drink with relish; to drink copiously of; to swallow in large draughts. [For quach, fr. Gael. & Ir. cuach a drinking cup; cf. L. caucus a drinking vessel. Cf. Quaigh.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Word to Two Young Ladies is in the public domain. This text is taken from Rural Tales, Ballads, and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #9093; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bloomfield, A Word to Two Young Ladies, in Rural Tales, Ballads and Songs (1802), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9093, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bloomfield-tales/a-word-to-two-young-ladies.html, id L09705.
Form and metre
A Word to Two Young Ladies is 30 lines in 7 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABAB receiveA · showerB · believeA · flowerB
- 2 ABAB sunA · mayB · runA · dayB
- 3 ABAB viewA · flyB · youA · iB
- 4 -A-A be · wifeA · modesty · lifeA
- 5 ABAB foundA · treadB · groundA · dreadB
- 6 ABAB quaffA · painB · laughA · againB
- 7 --AA-- thought · heart · bindA · mindA · i · —
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 tender Rose-trees first receive | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| On half-expanded Leaves, the Shower; | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Hope's gayest pictures we believe, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| And anxious watch each coining flower. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Then, if beneath the genial Sun | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That spreads abroad the full-blown May, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Two infant Stems the rest out-run, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their buds the first to meet the day, | 8 | ········ |
| With joy their op'ning tints we view, | 8 | ········ |
| While morning's precious moments fly: | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| My pretty Maids, 'tis thus with you; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The fond admiring gazer, I. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Preserve, sweet Buds, where'er you be; | 9 | ˘/··˘˘/·· |
| The richest gem that decks a Wife; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The charm of female modesty: | 8 | ···/·/˘˘ |
| And let sweet Music give it life. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Still may the favouring Muse be found: | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Still circumspect the paths ye tread: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Plant moral truths in Fancy's ground; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And meet old Age without a dread. | 8 | ········ |
| Yet, ere that comes, while yet ye quaff | 8 | ········ |
| The cup of Health without a pain, | 8 | ········ |
| I'll shake my grey hairs when you laugh, | 8 | ········ |
| And, when you sing, be young again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| "Accept, dear Bard, the Muse's genuine thought, | 10 | ˘/···/˘/˘· |
| And take not ill the tribute of my heart:-- | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| For thee the laureat wreath of praise I'll bind, | 10 | ·········· |
| None that have read thy commendable mind | 10 | ·····˘/˘˘· |
| Can let it pass unnotic'd--nor can I-- | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| For by thy lays I know thy sympathy." F.P. | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
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.