Ferraris

Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770) · 1777

iambic pentameter · ABABA · 5 lines · from The Rowley Poems

I wylle anente hymm goe; mie squierr, mie shielde;Orr onne orr odherr wyll doe myckle scetheBefore I doe departe the lissedd fielde,Mieselfe orr Bourtonne hereupponn wyll blethe.Mie shielde.

Words in this poem

squierr n.
A square. See 1st Squire.
onne prep.
The general signification of on is situation, motion, or condition with respect to contact or support beneath; as: -- [OE. on, an, o, a, AS. on, an; akin to D. aan, OS. & G. an, OHG. ana, Icel. a, Sw. ana, Russ. na, L. an-, in anhelare to pant, Gr. ana. sq. root195. Cf. A-, 1, A]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

Ferraris 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, Ferraris, in The Rowley Poems (1777), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13037, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/chatterton-rowley/ferraris.html, id L12148.

Form and metre

Ferraris is 5 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABA. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter. 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables.

See 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. 1 ABABA shieldeA · scetheB · fieldeA · bletheB · shieldeA
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.

LineSyl.Stress
I wylle anente hymm goe; mie squierr, mie shielde;11········/··
Orr onne orr odherr wyll doe myckle scethe10··········
Before I doe departe the lissedd fielde,10··········
Mieselfe orr Bourtonne hereupponn wyll blethe.10··········
Mie shielde.2··
Notes from the edition 5

The glosses and notes to the Rowley Poems, from Tyrwhitt's edition (Project Gutenberg #13037).

  1. Line 1 swollen.
  2. Line 2 hidden.
  3. Line 2 unknown.
  4. Line 3 command.
  5. Line 4 still.

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.

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