The Affliction of Richard
Love not too much. But how,When thou hast made me such,And dost thy gifts bestow,How can I love too much?Though I must fear to lose,And drown my joy in care,With all its thorns I chooseThe path of love and prayer.
Though thou, I know not why,Didst kill my childish trust,That breach with toil did IRepair, because I must:And spite of frighting schemes,With which the fiends of HellBlaspheme thee in my dreams,So far I have hoped well.
But what the heavenly key,What marvel in me wroughtShall quite exculpate thee,I have no shadow of thought.What am I that complain?The love, from which beganMy question sad and vain,Justifies thee to man.
Since to be loved endures,To love is wise:Earth hath no good but yours,Brave, joyful eyes:
Earth hath no sin but thine,Dull eye of scorn:O'er thee the sun doth pineAnd angels mourn.
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- blaspheme v. t.
- To speak of, or address, with impious irreverence; to revile impiously (anything sacred); as, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. [OE. blasfem, L. blasphemare, fr. Gr. : cf. F. blasphémer. See Blame, v.]
- 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,]
- exculpate v. t.
- To clear from alleged fault or guilt; to prove to be guiltless; to relieve of blame; to acquit. [L. ex out + culpatus, p. p. of culpare to find fault with, to blame, culpa fault. See Culpable.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Affliction of Richard is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Robert Bridges, Excluding the Eight Dramas, Project Gutenberg ebook #37804; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Bridges, The Affliction of Richard, in The Growth of Love, and Other Poems (1873–1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37804, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bridges-shorter-poems/the-affliction-of-richard.html, id L01776.
Form and metre
The Affliction of Richard is 32 lines in 5 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, in 2 of the 5 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic trimeter, 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 5.8 syllables. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 -A-ABCBC how · suchA · bestow · muchA · loseB · careC · chooseB · prayerC
- 2 ABABCDCD whyA · trustB · iA · mustB · schemesC · hellD · dreamsC · wellD
- 3 ABABCDCD keyA · wroughtB · theeA · thoughtB · complainC · beganD · vainC · manD
- 4 ABAB enduresA · wiseB · yoursA · eyesB
- 5 ABAB thineA · scornB · pineA · mournB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love not too much. But how, | 6 | ······ |
| When thou hast made me such, | 6 | ······ |
| And dost thy gifts bestow, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| How can I love too much? | 6 | ······ |
| Though I must fear to lose, | 6 | ······ |
| And drown my joy in care, | 6 | ······ |
| With all its thorns I choose | 6 | ······ |
| The path of love and prayer. | 6 | ······ |
| Though thou, I know not why, | 6 | ······ |
| Didst kill my childish trust, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That breach with toil did I | 6 | ······ |
| Repair, because I must: | 6 | ˘/···· |
| And spite of frighting schemes, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With which the fiends of Hell | 6 | ······ |
| Blaspheme thee in my dreams, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| So far I have hoped well. | 6 | ······ |
| But what the heavenly key, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| What marvel in me wrought | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Shall quite exculpate thee, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I have no shadow of thought. | 7 | ···/··· |
| What am I that complain? | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The love, from which began | 6 | ····˘/ |
| My question sad and vain, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Justifies thee to man. | 6 | /˘···· |
| Since to be loved endures, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| To love is wise: | 4 | ···· |
| Earth hath no good but yours, | 6 | ······ |
| Brave, joyful eyes: | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Earth hath no sin but thine, | 6 | ······ |
| Dull eye of scorn: | 4 | ···· |
| O'er thee the sun doth pine | 6 | ······ |
| And angels mourn. | 4 | ·/˘· |
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.