Some Lover’s Dear Thought
I OUGHT to be kinder always,For the light of his kindly eyes;I ought to be wiser always,Because he is so just and wise;And gentler in all my bearing,And braver in all my daring,For the patience that in him lies.
I must be as true as the HeavenWhile he is as true as the day,Nor balance the gift with the given,For he giveth to me alway.And I must be firm and steady;For my Love, he is that already,And I follow him as I may.
O dear little golden fetter,You bind me to difficult things;But my soul while it strives grows better,And I feel the stirring of wingsAs I stumble, doubting and dreading,Up the path of his stronger treading,Intent on his beckonings.
Words in this poem
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Some Lover’s Dear Thought is in the public domain. This text is taken from A Few More Verses, Project Gutenberg ebook #49518; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Susan Coolidge, Some Lover’s Dear Thought, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/some-lover-s-dear-thought.html, id L23429.
Form and metre
Some Lover’s Dear Thought is 21 lines in 3 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 73%).
See other poems in iambic 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 ABABCCB alwaysA · eyesB · alwaysA · wiseB · bearingC · daringC · liesB
- 2 -A--BBA heaven · dayA · given · alway · steadyB · alreadyB · mayA
- 3 ABABCCB fetterA · thingsB · betterA · wingsB · dreadingC · treadingC · beckoningsB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I OUGHT to be kinder always, | 8 | ····/˘/· |
| For the light of his kindly eyes; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I ought to be wiser always, | 8 | ····/˘/· |
| Because he is so just and wise; | 8 | ········ |
| And gentler in all my bearing, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| And braver in all my daring, | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| For the patience that in him lies. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| I must be as true as the Heaven | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| While he is as true as the day, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor balance the gift with the given, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| For he giveth to me alway. | 8 | ··/˘··/˘ |
| And I must be firm and steady; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| For my Love, he is that already, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And I follow him as I may. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| O dear little golden fetter, | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| You bind me to difficult things; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| But my soul while it strives grows better, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And I feel the stirring of wings | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| As I stumble, doubting and dreading, | 9 | ··/˘/˘·/˘ |
| Up the path of his stronger treading, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Intent on his beckonings. | 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.