A Rill
So when the pretty rill a place espies,Where with the pebbles she would wantonize,And that her upper stream so much doth wrong herTo drive her thence, and let her play no longer;If she with too loud mutt'ring ran away,As being much incens'd to leave her play,A western, mild and pretty whispering galeCame dallying with the leaves along the dale,And seem'd as with the water it did chide,Because it ran so long unpacified:Yea, and methought it bade her leave that coil,Or he would choke her up with leaves and soil:Whereat the riv'let in my mind did weep,And hurl'd her head into a silent deep.
Words in this poem
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- wantonize v. i.
- To behave wantonly; to frolic; to wanton. Lamb.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- whereat adv.
- At which; upon which; whereupon; -- used relatively.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Rill is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pastoral Poems by Nicholas Breton, Selected Poetry by George Wither, and Pastoral Poetry by William Browne (of Tavistock), Project Gutenberg ebook #22001; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Nicholas Breton, A Rill, in Pastoral Poems and Selected Poetry (1597–1604), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22001, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/breton-poems/a-rill.html, id L08861.
Form and metre
A Rill is 14 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 espies · wantonize · her · longer · awayA · playA · galeB · daleB · chideC · unpacifiedC · coilD · soilD · weepE · deepE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So when the pretty rill a place espies, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Where with the pebbles she would wantonize, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| And that her upper stream so much doth wrong her | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| To drive her thence, and let her play no longer; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| If she with too loud mutt'ring ran away, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| As being much incens'd to leave her play, | 10 | ·/˘·/····· |
| A western, mild and pretty whispering gale | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Came dallying with the leaves along the dale, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| And seem'd as with the water it did chide, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Because it ran so long unpacified: | 9 | ········· |
| Yea, and methought it bade her leave that coil, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Or he would choke her up with leaves and soil: | 10 | ·········· |
| Whereat the riv'let in my mind did weep, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| And hurl'd her head into a silent deep. | 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.