Hon. Miss Mercer.—Hopner
Oh! hide those tempting eyes, that faultless form,Those looks with feeling and with nature warm;The neck, the softly-swelling bosom hide,Nor, wanton gales, blow the light vest aside;For who, when beauties more than life exciteSilent applause, can gaze without delight!But innocence, enchanting maid, is thine;Thine eyes in liquid light unconscious shine;And may thy breast no other feelings prove,Than those of sympathy and mutual love!
A gentleman well known for his taste and fine collection.
Words in this poem
- faultless a.
- Without fault; not defective or imperfect; free from blemish; free from incorrectness, vice, or offense; perfect; as, a faultless poem.
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Hon. Miss Mercer.—Hopner is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 With Memoir, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by George Gilfillan, Project Gutenberg ebook #18915; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Lisle Bowles, Hon. Miss Mercer.—Hopner, in Sonnets, and Other Poems (1789–1837), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18915, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bowles-sonnets/hon-miss-mercer-hopner.html, id L25705.
Form and metre
Hon. Miss Mercer.—Hopner is 11 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AABBCCDDEE formA · warmA · hideB · asideB · exciteC · delightC · thineD · shineD · proveE · loveE
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh! hide those tempting eyes, that faultless form, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Those looks with feeling and with nature warm; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The neck, the softly-swelling bosom hide, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Nor, wanton gales, blow the light vest aside; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| For who, when beauties more than life excite | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Silent applause, can gaze without delight! | 10 | /˘˘/····˘/ |
| But innocence, enchanting maid, is thine; | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘··· |
| Thine eyes in liquid light unconscious shine; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And may thy breast no other feelings prove, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Than those of sympathy and mutual love! | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| A gentleman well known for his taste and fine collection. | 13 | ·/˘·······˘/˘ |
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.