An Answer, by Dr. Price
So to dead Hector boys may do disgrace,That durst not look upon his living face;So worst of men behind their betters’ backMay stretch mens names and credit on the rack.Good friend, our general tie to him that’s goneShould love the man that yearlie doth him moane:The author’s zeal and place he now doth hold,His love and duty makes him be thus boldTo offer this poor mite, his anniverseUnto his good great master’s sacred hearse;The which he doth with privilege of name,Whilst others, ’midst their ale, in corners blame.A pennyworth in print they never made,Yet think themselves as good as Pond or Dade.One anniverse, when thou hast done thus twice,Thy words among the best will be of PRICE.
Words in this poem
- pennyworth n.
- A penny's worth; as much as may be bought for a penny.
- dade v. t.
- To hold up by leading strings or by the hand, as a child while he toddles. [Of. uncertain origin. Cf. Dandle, Daddle.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Answer, by Dr. Price is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poems of Richard Corbet, late bishop of Oxford and of Norwich 4th edition, Project Gutenberg ebook #65375; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Richard Corbet, An Answer, by Dr. Price, in Poems (1647), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #65375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corbet-poems/an-answer-by-dr-price.html, id L08889.
Form and metre
An Answer, by Dr. Price is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 88% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABB--CCDDEEFFGG disgraceA · faceA · backB · rackB · gone · moane · holdC · boldC · anniverseD · hearseD · nameE · blameE · madeF · dadeF · twiceG · priceG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| So to dead Hector boys may do disgrace, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| That durst not look upon his living face; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| So worst of men behind their betters’ back | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| May stretch mens names and credit on the rack. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Good friend, our general tie to him that’s gone | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Should love the man that yearlie doth him moane: | 10 | ·········· |
| The author’s zeal and place he now doth hold, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| His love and duty makes him be thus bold | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| To offer this poor mite, his anniverse | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
| Unto his good great master’s sacred hearse; | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| The which he doth with privilege of name, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Whilst others, ’midst their ale, in corners blame. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| A pennyworth in print they never made, | 10 | ·/˘˘···/˘· |
| Yet think themselves as good as Pond or Dade. | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| One anniverse, when thou hast done thus twice, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Thy words among the best will be of PRICE. | 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.