To Simplicity
O! I do love thee, meek Simplicity!For of thy lays the lulling simplenessGoes to my heart and soothes each small distress,Distress though small, yet haply great to me!'Tis true on Lady Fortune's gentlest padI amble on; yet, though I know not why,So sad I am!--but should a friend and IGrow cool and miff, O! I am very sad!And then with sonnets and with sympathyMy dreamy bosom's mystic woes I pall;Now of my false friend plaining plaintively,Now raving at mankind in general;But, whether sad or fierce, 'tis simple all,All very simple, meek Simplicity!
Words in this poem
- simpleness n.
- The quality or state of being simple; simplicity.
- haply adv.
- By hap, chance, luck, or accident; perhaps; it may be.
- amble v. i.
- To go at the easy gait called an amble; -- applied to the horse or to its rider. [F. ambler to amble, fr. L. ambulare to walk, in LL., to amble, perh. fr. amb-, ambi-, and a root meaning to go: cf. Gr. base. Cf. Ambulate.]
- miff n.
- A petty falling out; a tiff; a quarrel; offense. Fielding. [Cf. Prov. G. muff sullenness, sulkiness, muffen to be silky, muffïg sullen, pouting.]
- dreamy a.
- Abounding in dreams or given to dreaming; appropriate to, or like, dreams; visionary.
- plaining a.
- Complaining. Bryant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Simplicity is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems of Coleridge, Project Gutenberg ebook #8208; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, To Simplicity, in Poems of Coleridge (1796–1817), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8208, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coleridge-poems/to-simplicity.html, id L00381.
Form and metre
To Simplicity is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 6 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBCDCCD-E-EEA simplicityA · simplenessB · distressB · meC · padD · whyC · iC · sadD · sympathy · pallE · plaintively · generalE · allE · simplicityA
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.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O! I do love thee, meek Simplicity! | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| For of thy lays the lulling simpleness | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Goes to my heart and soothes each small distress, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Distress though small, yet haply great to me! | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| 'Tis true on Lady Fortune's gentlest pad | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| I amble on; yet, though I know not why, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| So sad I am!--but should a friend and I | 10 | ·········· |
| Grow cool and miff, O! I am very sad! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And then with sonnets and with sympathy | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| My dreamy bosom's mystic woes I pall; | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Now of my false friend plaining plaintively, | 10 | ·····/˘/·˘ |
| Now raving at mankind in general; | 9 | ·/˘·//·/˘ |
| But, whether sad or fierce, 'tis simple all, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| All very simple, meek Simplicity! | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
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.