Morning
The Muses' friend (grey-eyed Aurora) yetHeld all the meadows in a cooling sweat,The milk-white gossamers not upwards snow'd,Nor was the sharp and useful-steering goadLaid on the strong-neck'd ox; no gentle budThe sun had dried; the cattle chew'd the cudLow levell'd on the grass; no fly's quick stingEnforc'd the stonehorse in a furious ringTo tear the passive earth, nor lash his tailAbout his buttocks broad; the slimy snailMight on the wainscot, by his many mazes,Winding meanders and self-knitting traces,Be follow'd where he stuck, his glittering slimeNot yet wip'd off. It was so early time,The careful smith had in his sooty forgeKindled no coal; nor did his hammers urgeHis neighbours' patience: owls abroad did fly,And day as then might plead his in fancy.
Words in this poem
- aurora n.
- The rising light of the morning; the dawn of day; the redness of the sky just before the sun rises. [L. aurora, for ausosa, akin to Gr. ushas, and E. east.]
- cooling a.
- Adapted to cool and refresh; allaying heat.
- wainscot n.
- Oaken timber or boarding. [OD. waeghe-schot, D. wagen-schot, a clapboard, fr. OD. waeg, weeg, a wall (akin to AS. wah; cf. Icel. veggr) + schot a covering of boards (akin to E. shot, shoo]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Morning 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, Morning, in Pastoral Poems and Selected Poetry (1597–1604), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22001, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/breton-poems/morning.html, id L08857.
Form and metre
Morning is 18 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 67% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% 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. 61% 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--FF---- yetA · sweatA · snow'dB · goadB · budC · cudC · stingD · ringD · tailE · snailE · mazes · traces · slimeF · timeF · forge · urge · fly · fancy
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Muses' friend (grey-eyed Aurora) yet | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Held all the meadows in a cooling sweat, | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| The milk-white gossamers not upwards snow'd, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| Nor was the sharp and useful-steering goad | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Laid on the strong-neck'd ox; no gentle bud | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The sun had dried; the cattle chew'd the cud | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Low levell'd on the grass; no fly's quick sting | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Enforc'd the stonehorse in a furious ring | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| To tear the passive earth, nor lash his tail | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| About his buttocks broad; the slimy snail | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Might on the wainscot, by his many mazes, | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Winding meanders and self-knitting traces, | 11 | /˘˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Be follow'd where he stuck, his glittering slime | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Not yet wip'd off. It was so early time, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The careful smith had in his sooty forge | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Kindled no coal; nor did his hammers urge | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| His neighbours' patience: owls abroad did fly, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| And day as then might plead his in fancy. | 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.