Clarinda, Mistress of My Soul
Clarinda, mistres of my soul,The measur’d time is run!The wretch beneath the dreary poleSo marks his latest sun.
To what dark cave of frozen nightShall poor Sylvander hie;Depriv’d of thee, his life and light,The sun of all his joy?
We part—but by these precious drops,That fill thy lovely eyes,No other light shall guide my steps,Till thy bright beams arise!
She, the fair sun of all her sex,Has blest my glorious day;And shall a glimmering planet fixMy worship to its ray?
Words in this poem
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- 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,]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Clarinda, Mistress of My Soul is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, Project Gutenberg ebook #1279; 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 Burns, Clarinda, Mistress of My Soul, in Poems and Songs (1786–1796), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1279, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/burns-poems/clarinda-mistress-of-my-soul.html, id L03115.
Form and metre
Clarinda, Mistress of My Soul is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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 ABAB soulA · runB · poleA · sunB
- 2 A-A- nightA · hie · lightA · joy
- 3 -A-A drops · eyesA · steps · ariseA
- 4 -A-A sex · dayA · fix · rayA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Clarinda, mistres of my soul, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| The measur’d time is run! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The wretch beneath the dreary pole | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So marks his latest sun. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| To what dark cave of frozen night | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Shall poor Sylvander hie; | 6 | ······ |
| Depriv’d of thee, his life and light, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| The sun of all his joy? | 6 | ······ |
| We part—but by these precious drops, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That fill thy lovely eyes, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| No other light shall guide my steps, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Till thy bright beams arise! | 6 | ····˘/ |
| She, the fair sun of all her sex, | 8 | ········ |
| Has blest my glorious day; | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And shall a glimmering planet fix | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| My worship to its ray? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.