Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore; Three Celebrated Scottish Beauties
Adieu! Romance’s heroines—Give me the nymphs who this good hourMay charm me, not in Fiction’s scenes,But teach me Beauty’s living power.My harp that has been mute too longShall sleep at Beauty’s name no more,So but your smiles reward my song—Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore.
In whose benignant eyes are beamingThe rays of purity and truth;Such as we fancy woman’s seemingIn the creation’s golden youth.The more I look upon thy grace,Rosina, I could look the more;But for Jemima’s witching face,And the sweet smile of Eleanore.
Had I been Lawrence, kings had wantedTheir portraits, till I painted yours;And these had future hearts enchanted,When this poor verse no more endures.I would have left the Congress faces,A dull-eyed diplomatic corps,Till I had grouped you as the Graces—Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore.
The Catholic bids fair saints befriend him,Your poet’s heart is Catholic too;His rosary shall be flowers ye send him,His saints’ days when he visits you.And my sere laurels for my duty,Miraculous at your touch would rise;Could I give verse one trait of beautyLike that which glads me from your eyes.
Unsealed by you these lips have spoken,Disused to song for many a day,Ye’ve tuned a harp whose strings were broken,And warmed a heart of callous clay;So when my fancy next refusesTo twine for you a garland more,Come back again and be my Muses—Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- benignant a.
- Kind; gracious; favorable. [LL. benignans, p. pr. of benignare, from L. benignus. See Benign.]
- witching a.
- That witches or enchants; suited to enchantment or witchcraft; bewitching.
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- congress n.
- A meeting of individuals, whether friendly or hostile; an encounter. [L. congressus, fr. congredi, p.p. -gressus, to go or come together; con- + grati to go or step, gradus step: cf. F. congr. See Grade.]
- corps n.
- The human body, whether living or dead. See Corpse, 1. [F., fr. L. corpus body. See Corpse.]
- befriend v. t.
- To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
- rosary n.
- A bed of roses, or place where roses grow. [LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.]
- sere n.
- Claw; talon. Chapman. [F. serre.]
- trait n.
- A stroke; a touch. [F., fr. L. tractus, fr. trahere to draw. See Trace, v., and cf. Tract a region, Trace a strap, Tret.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore; Three Celebrated Scottish Beauties is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, Project Gutenberg ebook #59788; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campbell, Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore; Three Celebrated Scottish Beauties, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/jemima-rose-and-eleanore-three-celebrated-scottish-beauties.html, id L24442.
Form and metre
Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore; Three Celebrated Scottish Beauties is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 ABABCDCD heroinesA · hourB · scenesA · powerB · longC · moreD · songC · eleanoreD
- 2 ABABCDCD beamingA · truthB · seemingA · youthB · graceC · moreD · faceC · eleanoreD
- 3 -A-ABCBC wanted · yoursA · enchanted · enduresA · facesB · corpsC · gracesB · eleanoreC
- 4 ABABCDCD himA · tooB · himA · youB · dutyC · riseD · beautyC · eyesD
- 5 ABABCDCD spokenA · dayB · brokenA · clayB · refusesC · moreD · musesC · eleanoreD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Adieu! Romance’s heroines— | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/·˘ |
| Give me the nymphs who this good hour | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| May charm me, not in Fiction’s scenes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But teach me Beauty’s living power. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| My harp that has been mute too long | 8 | ········ |
| Shall sleep at Beauty’s name no more, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So but your smiles reward my song— | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| In whose benignant eyes are beaming | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| The rays of purity and truth; | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Such as we fancy woman’s seeming | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| In the creation’s golden youth. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| The more I look upon thy grace, | 8 | ········ |
| Rosina, I could look the more; | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| But for Jemima’s witching face, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And the sweet smile of Eleanore. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Had I been Lawrence, kings had wanted | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Their portraits, till I painted yours; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And these had future hearts enchanted, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| When this poor verse no more endures. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| I would have left the Congress faces, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| A dull-eyed diplomatic corps, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Till I had grouped you as the Graces— | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| The Catholic bids fair saints befriend him, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/· |
| Your poet’s heart is Catholic too; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| His rosary shall be flowers ye send him, | 9 | ·/˘··/··· |
| His saints’ days when he visits you. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And my sere laurels for my duty, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Miraculous at your touch would rise; | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Could I give verse one trait of beauty | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Like that which glads me from your eyes. | 8 | ········ |
| Unsealed by you these lips have spoken, | 9 | ˘/·····/˘ |
| Disused to song for many a day, | 8 | ˘/···/·· |
| Ye’ve tuned a harp whose strings were broken, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And warmed a heart of callous clay; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So when my fancy next refuses | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| To twine for you a garland more, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Come back again and be my Muses— | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| Jemima, Rose, and Eleanore. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
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