Verses
Ye curious hands, that, hid from vulgar eyes,By search profane shall find this hallow'd cake,With virtue's awe forbear the sacred prize,Nor dare a theft, for love and pity's sake!
This precious relic, form'd by magic power,Beneath her shepherd's haunted pillow laid,Was meant by love to charm the silent hour,The secret present of a matchless maid.
The Cyprian queen, at Hymen's fond request,Each nice ingredient chose with happiest art;Fears, sighs, and wishes of the enamour'd breast,And pains that please, are mix'd in every part.
With rosy hand the spicy fruit she brought,From Paphian hills, and fair Cythera's isle;And temper'd sweet with these the melting thought,The kiss ambrosial, and the yielding smile.
Ambiguous looks, that scorn and yet relent,Denials mild, and firm unalter'd truth;Reluctant pride, and amorous faint consent,And meeting ardours, and exulting youth.
Sleep, wayward God! hath sworn, while these remain,With flattering dreams to dry his nightly tear,And cheerful Hope, so oft invoked in vain,With fairy songs shall soothe his pensive ear.
If, bound by vows to Friendship's gentle side,And fond of soul, thou hop'st an equal grace,If youth or maid thy joys and griefs divide,O, much entreated, leave this fatal place!
Sweet Peace, who long hath shunn'd my plaintive day,Consents at length to bring me short delight,Thy careless steps may scare her doves away,And Grief with raven note usurp the night.
Words in this poem
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- 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,]
- haunted a.
- Inhabited by, or subject to the visits of, apparitions; frequented by a ghost.
- cyprian a.
- Belonging to Cyprus.
- paphian a.
- Of or pertaining to Paphos, an ancient city of Cyprus, having a celebrated temple of Venus; hence, pertaining to Venus, or her rites.
- isle v. t.
- To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
- ambrosial a.
- Consisting of, or partaking of the nature of, ambrosia; delighting the taste or smell; delicious.
- relent v. i.
- To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
- exulting a.
- Rejoicing triumphantly or exceedingly; exultant.
- wayward a.
- Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
- nightly a.
- Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- scare v. t.
- To frighten; to strike with sudden fear; to alarm. [OE. skerren, skeren, Icel. skirra to bar, prevent, skirrask to shun , shrink from; or fr. OE. skerre, adj., scared, Icel. skjarr; both perhaps akin to E. sheer ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Verses is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of William Collins; With a Memoir, Project Gutenberg ebook #29879; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Collins, Verses, in Poetical Works (1746), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #29879, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/collins-poems/verses.html, id L13361.
Form and metre
Verses is 32 lines in 8 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 ABAB eyesA · cakeB · prizeA · sakeB
- 2 ABAB powerA · laidB · hourA · maidB
- 3 ABAB requestA · artB · breastA · partB
- 4 ABAB broughtA · isleB · thoughtA · smileB
- 5 ABAB relentA · truthB · consentA · youthB
- 6 ABAB remainA · tearB · vainA · earB
- 7 ABAB sideA · graceB · divideA · placeB
- 8 ABAB dayA · delightB · awayA · nightB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ye curious hands, that, hid from vulgar eyes, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| By search profane shall find this hallow'd cake, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| With virtue's awe forbear the sacred prize, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Nor dare a theft, for love and pity's sake! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This precious relic, form'd by magic power, | 11 | ·/˘/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Beneath her shepherd's haunted pillow laid, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Was meant by love to charm the silent hour, | 11 | ·······/˘/˘ |
| The secret present of a matchless maid. | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| The Cyprian queen, at Hymen's fond request, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Each nice ingredient chose with happiest art; | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Fears, sighs, and wishes of the enamour'd breast, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| And pains that please, are mix'd in every part. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| With rosy hand the spicy fruit she brought, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| From Paphian hills, and fair Cythera's isle; | 11 | ·/˘˘······· |
| And temper'd sweet with these the melting thought, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The kiss ambrosial, and the yielding smile. | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Ambiguous looks, that scorn and yet relent, | 10 | ˘/˘·····˘/ |
| Denials mild, and firm unalter'd truth; | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| Reluctant pride, and amorous faint consent, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| And meeting ardours, and exulting youth. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Sleep, wayward God! hath sworn, while these remain, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| With flattering dreams to dry his nightly tear, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| And cheerful Hope, so oft invoked in vain, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/·· |
| With fairy songs shall soothe his pensive ear. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| If, bound by vows to Friendship's gentle side, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| And fond of soul, thou hop'st an equal grace, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| If youth or maid thy joys and griefs divide, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| O, much entreated, leave this fatal place! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Sweet Peace, who long hath shunn'd my plaintive day, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Consents at length to bring me short delight, | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| Thy careless steps may scare her doves away, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And Grief with raven note usurp the night. | 10 | ···/˘··/·· |
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.