Corydon's Supplication to Phyllis
Sweet Phyllis, if a silly swainMay sue to thee for grace,See not thy loving shepherd slainWith looking on thy face;But think what power thou hast gotUpon my flock and me;Thou seest they now regard me not,But all do follow thee.And if I have so far presumed,With prying in thine eyes,Yet let not comfort be consumedThat in thy pity lies;But as thou art that Phyllis fair,That fortune favour gives,So let not love die in despairThat in thy favour lives.The deer do browse upon the briar,The birds do pick the cherries;And will not Beauty grant DesireOne handful of her berries?If it be so that thou hast swornThat none shall look on thee,Yet let me know thou dost not scornTo cast a look on me.But if thy beauty make thee proud,Think then what is ordain'd;The heavens have never yet allow'dThat love should be disdain'd.Then lest the fates that favour loveShould curse thee for unkind,Let me report for thy behoof,The honour of thy mind;Let Corydon with full consentSet down what he hath seen,That Phyllida with Love's contentIs sworn the shepherds' queen.
Shall we go dance the hay? The hay?Never pipe could ever playBetter shepherd's roundelay.
Shall we go sing the song? The song?Never Love did ever wrong.Fair maids, hold hands all along.
Shall we go learn to woo? To woo?Never thought came ever too(?)Better deed could better do.
Shall we go learn to kiss? To kiss?Never heart could ever missComfort where true meaning is.
Thus at base they run, They run,When the sport was scarce begun;But I waked, and all was done.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- prying a.
- Inspecting closely or impertinently.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- briar n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
- handful n.
- As much as the hand will grasp or contain. [AS. handfull.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- behoof n.
- Advantage; profit; benefit; interest; use. [OE. to bihove for the use of, AS. beh advantage, a word implied in beh necessary; akin to Sw. behof, Dan. behov, G. behuf, and E. heave, the root meaning to sei]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Corydon's Supplication to Phyllis 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, Corydon's Supplication to Phyllis, in Pastoral Poems and Selected Poetry (1597–1604), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22001, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/breton-poems/corydon-s-supplication-to-phyllis.html, id L08832.
Form and metre
Corydon's Supplication to Phyllis is 51 lines in 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGHGHIJIJKLKLMNMN-O-OPQPQ swainA · graceB · slainA · faceB · gotC · meD · notC · theeD · presumedE · eyesF · consumedE · liesF · fairG · givesH · despairG · livesH · briarI · cherriesJ · desireI · berriesJ · swornK · theeL · scornK · meL · proudM · ordain'dN · allow'dM · disdain'dN · love · unkindO · behoof · mindO · consentP · seenQ · contentP · queenQ
- 2 AAA hayA · playA · roundelayA
- 3 AAA songA · wrongA · alongA
- 4 AAA wooA · tooA · doA
- 5 AA- kissA · missA · is
- 6 AAA runA · begunA · doneA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet Phyllis, if a silly swain | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| May sue to thee for grace, | 6 | ······ |
| See not thy loving shepherd slain | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| With looking on thy face; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But think what power thou hast got | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon my flock and me; | 6 | ······ |
| Thou seest they now regard me not, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But all do follow thee. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And if I have so far presumed, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| With prying in thine eyes, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Yet let not comfort be consumed | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That in thy pity lies; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| But as thou art that Phyllis fair, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That fortune favour gives, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| So let not love die in despair | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That in thy favour lives. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The deer do browse upon the briar, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The birds do pick the cherries; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And will not Beauty grant Desire | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| One handful of her berries? | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| If it be so that thou hast sworn | 8 | ········ |
| That none shall look on thee, | 6 | ······ |
| Yet let me know thou dost not scorn | 8 | ········ |
| To cast a look on me. | 6 | ······ |
| But if thy beauty make thee proud, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Think then what is ordain'd; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The heavens have never yet allow'd | 9 | ·/˘·/˘·˘/ |
| That love should be disdain'd. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Then lest the fates that favour love | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Should curse thee for unkind, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Let me report for thy behoof, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| The honour of thy mind; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Let Corydon with full consent | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Set down what he hath seen, | 6 | ······ |
| That Phyllida with Love's content | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Is sworn the shepherds' queen. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Shall we go dance the hay? The hay? | 8 | ········ |
| Never pipe could ever play | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Better shepherd's roundelay. | 7 | /˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Shall we go sing the song? The song? | 8 | ········ |
| Never Love did ever wrong. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Fair maids, hold hands all along. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Shall we go learn to woo? To woo? | 8 | ········ |
| Never thought came ever too(?) | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Better deed could better do. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Shall we go learn to kiss? To kiss? | 8 | ········ |
| Never heart could ever miss | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Comfort where true meaning is. | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Thus at base they run, They run, | 7 | ······· |
| When the sport was scarce begun; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| But I waked, and all was done. | 7 | ······· |
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.