Thorns
ROSES have thorns, and love is thorny too;And this is love’s sharp thorn which guards its flower,That our beloved have the cruel powerTo hurt us deeper than all others do.
The heart attuned to our heart like a charm,Beat answering beat, as echo answers song,If the throb falter, or the pulse beat wrong,How shall it fail to grieve us or to harm?
The taunt which, uttered by a stranger’s lips,Scarce heard, scarce minded, passed us like the wind,Breathed by a dear voice, which has grown unkind,Turns sweet to bitter, sunshine to eclipse.
The instinct of a change we cannot prove,The pitiful tenderness, the sad too-much,The sad too-little, shown in look or touch,—All these are wounding thorns of thorny love.
Ah, sweetest rose which earthly gardens bear,Fought for, desired, life’s guerdon and life’s end,Although your thorns may slay and wound and rend,Still men must snatch you; for you are so fair.
Words in this poem
- throb v. i.
- To beat, or pulsate, with more than usual force or rapidity; to beat in consequence of agitation; to palpitate; -- said of the heart, pulse, etc. [OE. ; of uncertain origin; cf. Russ. trepete a trembling, and E. trepidation.]
- falter v. t.
- To thrash in the chaff; also, to cleanse or sift, as barley.
- 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,]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- guerdon n.
- A reward; requital; recompense; -- used in both a good and a bad sense. [OF. guerdon, guerredon, LL. widerdonum (influenced by L. donum gift, cf. Donation ), fr. OHG. widarl; widar again, against (G. wider wieder) + lon reward, G. lo]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Thorns 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, Thorns, in A Few More Verses (1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49518, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/coolidge-few-more-verses/thorns.html, id L23478.
Form and metre
Thorns is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%).
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 ABBA tooA · flowerB · powerB · doA
- 2 ABBA charmA · songB · wrongB · harmA
- 3 ABBA lipsA · windB · unkindB · eclipseA
- 4 ABBA proveA · muchB · touchB · loveA
- 5 ABBA bearA · endB · rendB · fairA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ROSES have thorns, and love is thorny too; | 10 | /˘·····/˘· |
| And this is love’s sharp thorn which guards its flower, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| That our beloved have the cruel power | 11 | ·/˘˘/··/˘/˘ |
| To hurt us deeper than all others do. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The heart attuned to our heart like a charm, | 10 | ··˘/·/···· |
| Beat answering beat, as echo answers song, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| If the throb falter, or the pulse beat wrong, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| How shall it fail to grieve us or to harm? | 10 | ·········· |
| The taunt which, uttered by a stranger’s lips, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Scarce heard, scarce minded, passed us like the wind, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Breathed by a dear voice, which has grown unkind, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Turns sweet to bitter, sunshine to eclipse. | 10 | ···/˘/··˘/ |
| The instinct of a change we cannot prove, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| The pitiful tenderness, the sad too-much, | 10 | ·/˘/˘˘···· |
| The sad too-little, shown in look or touch,— | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| All these are wounding thorns of thorny love. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Ah, sweetest rose which earthly gardens bear, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Fought for, desired, life’s guerdon and life’s end, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Although your thorns may slay and wound and rend, | 10 | ·········· |
| Still men must snatch you; for you are so fair. | 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.