Patty of the Vale
Where lonesome woodlands close surroundingMark the spot a solitude,And nature’s uncheck’d scenes aboundingForm a prospect wild and rude,A cottage cheers the spot so glooming,Hid in the hollow of the dale,Where, in youth and beauty bloomingLives sweet Patty of the Vale.
Gay as the lambs her cot surrounding,Sporting wild the shades among,O’er the hills and bushes bounding,Artless, innocent, and young,Fresh, as blush of morning rosesEre the mid-day suns prevail,Fair as lily-bud uncloses,Blooms sweet Patty of the Vale.
Low and humble though her station,Dress though mean she’s doom’d to wear,Few superiors in the nationWith her beauty can compare.What are riches?--not worth naming,Though with some they may prevail;Their’s be choice of wealth proclaiming,Mine is Patty of the Vale.
Fools may fancy wealth and fortuneJoin to make a happy pair,And for such the god importune,With full many a fruitless prayer:I, their pride and wealth disdainingShould my humble hopes prevail,Happy then, would cease complaining,Blest with Patty of the Vale.
Words in this poem
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- glooming n.
- Twilight (of morning or evening); the gloaming. [Cf. Gloaming.]
- vale n.
- A tract of low ground, or of land between hills; a valley. [OE. val, F. val, L. vallis; perhaps akin to Gr. Avalanche, Vail to lower, Valley.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- importune a.
- Inopportune; unseasonable. [F. importun, L. importunus; pref. im- not + a derivative from the root of portus harbor, importunus therefore orig. meaning, hard of access. See Port harbor, an]
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Patty of the Vale is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #52601; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Clare, Patty of the Vale, in Poems (1820–1835), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #52601, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/clare-poems/patty-of-the-vale.html, id L06662.
Form and metre
Patty of the Vale is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 14 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 22% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 surroundingA · solitudeB · aboundingA · rudeB · gloomingC · daleD · bloomingC · valeD
- 2 ABABCDCD surroundingA · amongB · boundingA · youngB · rosesC · prevailD · unclosesC · valeD
- 3 ABABCDCD stationA · wearB · nationA · compareB · namingC · prevailD · proclaimingC · valeD
- 4 ABABCDCD fortuneA · pairB · importuneA · prayerB · disdainingC · prevailD · complainingC · valeD
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Where lonesome woodlands close surrounding | 9 | ·/˘/··˘/˘ |
| Mark the spot a solitude, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And nature’s uncheck’d scenes abounding | 9 | ·/˘˘/·˘/˘ |
| Form a prospect wild and rude, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| A cottage cheers the spot so glooming, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Hid in the hollow of the dale, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where, in youth and beauty blooming | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Lives sweet Patty of the Vale. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Gay as the lambs her cot surrounding, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Sporting wild the shades among, | 7 | /˘····· |
| O’er the hills and bushes bounding, | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Artless, innocent, and young, | 7 | /˘/˘˘·· |
| Fresh, as blush of morning roses | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| Ere the mid-day suns prevail, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Fair as lily-bud uncloses, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Blooms sweet Patty of the Vale. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Low and humble though her station, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Dress though mean she’s doom’d to wear, | 7 | ······· |
| Few superiors in the nation | 9 | ·˘/˘˘··/˘ |
| With her beauty can compare. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| What are riches?--not worth naming, | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Though with some they may prevail; | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Their’s be choice of wealth proclaiming, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Mine is Patty of the Vale. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fools may fancy wealth and fortune | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| Join to make a happy pair, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And for such the god importune, | 8 | ········ |
| With full many a fruitless prayer: | 8 | ··/˘·/˘· |
| I, their pride and wealth disdaining | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| Should my humble hopes prevail, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Happy then, would cease complaining, | 8 | /˘···˘/˘ |
| Blest with Patty of the Vale. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
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.