Clinton
Botte longe thou schalte ne tend; I doe thee fie.Lyche forreying levynn, schalle mie tylte-launce flie.
Nowe, nowe, Syrr Knyghte, attoure thie beeveredd eyne.I have borne downe, and este doe gauntlette thee.Swythenne begynne, and wrynn thie shappe orr myne;Gyff thou dyscomfytte, ytt wylle dobblie bee.
Words in this poem
- longe n.
- A thrust. See Lunge. Smollett. [Abbrev. fr. allonge. See Lunge.]
- eyne n.
- Plural of eye; obsolete, or used only in poetry.
- gauntlette n.
- A glove of such material that it defends the hand from wounds. [F. gantelet, dim. of gant glove, LL. wantus, of Teutonic origin; cf. D. want, Sw. & Dan. vante, Icel. vöttr, for vantr.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Clinton is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Rowley Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #13037; 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 Chatterton, Clinton, in The Rowley Poems (1777), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13037, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/chatterton-rowley/clinton.html, id L12151.
Form and metre
Clinton is 6 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 74%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.5 syllables.
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 AA fieA · flieA
- 2 -A-A eyne · theeA · myne · beeA
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Botte longe thou schalte ne tend; I doe thee fie. | 10 | ·········· |
| Lyche forreying levynn, schalle mie tylte-launce flie. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Nowe, nowe, Syrr Knyghte, attoure thie beeveredd eyne. | 11 | ··········· |
| I have borne downe, and este doe gauntlette thee. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Swythenne begynne, and wrynn thie shappe orr myne; | 10 | ·········· |
| Gyff thou dyscomfytte, ytt wylle dobblie bee. | 11 | ··········· |
Notes from the edition 10
The glosses and notes to the Rowley Poems, from Tyrwhitt's edition (Project Gutenberg #13037).
- Stanza 1, line 1 rights, liberties.
- Stanza 1, line 1 cutting, mangling.
- Stanza 1, line 2 forbidding.
- Stanza 1, line 2 grow.
- Stanza 2, line 1 furious.
- Stanza 2, line 1 slay.
- Stanza 2, line 2 strength.
- Stanza 2, line 3 declare.
- Stanza 2, line 3 sword.
- Stanza 2, line 3 Monastery.
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.