An Epitaph on Thomas Jonce
Here, for the nonce,Came Thomas Jonce,In St. Giles church to lye.
None Welsh before,None Welshman more,Till Shon Clerk die.
I’ll tole the bell,I’ll ring his knell;He died well,He’s sav’d from hell;And so farwelTom Jonce.
Ladyes, that weare black cipress-vailesTurn’d lately to white linnen-rayles,And to your girdle weare your bands,And shew your armes instead of hands;What can you doe in Lent so meetAs, fittest dress, to weare a sheet?’Twas once a band, ’tis now a cloake,An acorne one day proves an oke:Weare but your linnen to your feet,And then your band will prove a sheet.By which devise, and wise excesse,You’l doe your penance in a dresse;And none shall know, by what they see,Which lady’s censur’d, and which free.
Words in this poem
- nonce n.
- The one or single occasion; the present call or purpose; -- chiefly used in the phrase for the nonce. [For the nonce, OE. for the nones, a corruption of for then ones, where n. in then is a relic of AS. m in , dat. of the article and demonstrative pronoun, E. the]
- welshman n.
- A native or inhabitant of Wales; one of the Welsh.
- clerk n.
- A clergyman or ecclesiastic. [Either OF. clerc, fr. L. clericus a priest, or AS. clerc, cleric, clerk, priest, fr. L. clericus, fr. Gr. Clergy.]
- tole v. t.
- To draw, or cause to follow, by displaying something pleasing or desirable; to allure by some bait. [OE. tollen to draw, to entice; of uncertain origin. Cf. Toll to ring a bell.]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- 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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
An Epitaph on Thomas Jonce 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 Epitaph on Thomas Jonce, in Poems (1647), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #65375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corbet-poems/an-epitaph-on-thomas-jonce.html, id L08916.
Form and metre
An Epitaph on Thomas Jonce is 26 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 85% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.1 syllables. 12% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AA- nonceA · jonceA · lye
- 2 AA- beforeA · moreA · die
- 3 AAAA-- bellA · knellA · wellA · hellA · farwel · jonce
- 4 AABBCCDDCCEEFF vailesA · raylesA · bandsB · handsB · meetC · sheetC · cloakeD · okeD · feetC · sheetC · excesseE · dresseE · seeF · freeF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Here, for the nonce, | 4 | ···· |
| Came Thomas Jonce, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| In St. Giles church to lye. | 6 | ······ |
| None Welsh before, | 4 | ···· |
| None Welshman more, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Till Shon Clerk die. | 4 | ···· |
| I’ll tole the bell, | 4 | ···· |
| I’ll ring his knell; | 4 | ···· |
| He died well, | 3 | ··· |
| He’s sav’d from hell; | 4 | ···· |
| And so farwel | 4 | ···· |
| Tom Jonce. | 2 | ·· |
| Ladyes, that weare black cipress-vailes | 8 | /˘······ |
| Turn’d lately to white linnen-rayles, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And to your girdle weare your bands, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And shew your armes instead of hands; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| What can you doe in Lent so meet | 8 | ········ |
| As, fittest dress, to weare a sheet? | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| ’Twas once a band, ’tis now a cloake, | 8 | ········ |
| An acorne one day proves an oke: | 8 | ········ |
| Weare but your linnen to your feet, | 8 | ········ |
| And then your band will prove a sheet. | 8 | ········ |
| By which devise, and wise excesse, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| You’l doe your penance in a dresse; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And none shall know, by what they see, | 8 | ········ |
| Which lady’s censur’d, and which free. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
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