The Contrast
He loved her; having felt his love beginWith that first look,--as lover oft avers.He made pale flowers his pleading ministers,Impressed sweet music, drew the springtime inTo serve his suit; but when he could not win,Forgot her face and those gray eyes of hers;And at her name his pulse no longer stirs,And life goes on as though she had not been.
She never loved him; but she loved Love so,So reverenced Love, that all her being shookAt his demand whose entrance she denied.Her thoughts of him such tender colour tookAs western skies that keep the afterglow.The words he spoke were with her till she died.
Words in this poem
- springtime n.
- The season of spring; springtide.
- shook v. t.
- To pack, as staves, in a shook.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Contrast is in the public domain. This text is taken from A chant of love for England, and other poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #71425; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Helen Gray Cone, The Contrast, in A Chant of Love for England, and Other Poems (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71425, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cone-chant-for-england/the-contrast.html, id L22091.
Form and metre
The Contrast is 14 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 A-BAABBA beginA · avers · ministersB · inA · winA · hersB · stirsB · beenA
- 2 ABCBAC soA · shookB · deniedC · tookB · afterglowA · diedC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| He loved her; having felt his love begin | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| With that first look,--as lover oft avers. | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| He made pale flowers his pleading ministers, | 11 | ···/˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| Impressed sweet music, drew the springtime in | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/·· |
| To serve his suit; but when he could not win, | 10 | ·········· |
| Forgot her face and those gray eyes of hers; | 10 | ˘/········ |
| And at her name his pulse no longer stirs, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And life goes on as though she had not been. | 10 | ·········· |
| She never loved him; but she loved Love so, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| So reverenced Love, that all her being shook | 10 | ·/˘˘····/· |
| At his demand whose entrance she denied. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/ |
| Her thoughts of him such tender colour took | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| As western skies that keep the afterglow. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The words he spoke were with her till she died. | 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.