Book IV: Metre II
The kings whom we beholdIn highest glory placed,And with rich purple graced,Compassed with soldiers bold;Whose countenance shows fierce threats,Who with rash fury chide,If any strip the prideFrom their vainglorious feats;He'll see them close oppressedWithin by galling chainsFor filthy lust there reignsAnd poisoneth their breast,Wrath often them perplexethRaising their minds like waves,Sorrow their power enslavesAnd sliding hope them vexeth.So many tyrants stillDwelling in one poor heart,Except they first departShe cannot have her will.
Words in this poem
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- compassed a.
- Rounded; arched.
- galling a.
- Fitted to gall or chafe; vexing; harassing; irritating.
- lust v. i.
- To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: Metre II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Consolation of Philosophy, Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, the I.T. (1609), rev. H. F. Stewart translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Boethius, Book IV: Metre II, in The Consolation of Philosophy (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13316, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/boethius-consolation/book-iv-metre-ii.html, id L26404.
Form and metre
Book IV: Metre II is 20 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 ABBA-CC-DEEDFGGFHIIH beholdA · placedB · gracedB · boldA · threats · chideC · prideC · feats · oppressedD · chainsE · reignsE · breastD · perplexethF · wavesG · enslavesG · vexethF · stillH · heartI · departI · willH
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The kings whom we behold | 6 | ····˘/ |
| In highest glory placed, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And with rich purple graced, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Compassed with soldiers bold; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| Whose countenance shows fierce threats, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Who with rash fury chide, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| If any strip the pride | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| From their vainglorious feats; | 6 | ······ |
| He'll see them close oppressed | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Within by galling chains | 6 | ···/˘· |
| For filthy lust there reigns | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And poisoneth their breast, | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Wrath often them perplexeth | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Raising their minds like waves, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Sorrow their power enslaves | 6 | /˘·/˘/ |
| And sliding hope them vexeth. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| So many tyrants still | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Dwelling in one poor heart, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Except they first depart | 6 | ····˘/ |
| She cannot have her will. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.