In Quendam Anniversariorum Scriptorem
Even soe dead Hector thrice was triumph’d onThe walls of Troy, thrice slain when Fates had done:So did the barbarous Greekes before their hoastTorment his ashes and profane his ghost:As Henryes vault, his peace, his sacred hearse,Are torne and batter’d by thine Anniverse.Was ’t not enough Nature and strength were foes,But thou must yearly murther him in prose?Or dost thou thinke thy raving phrase can makeA lowder eccho then the Almanake?Trust mee, November doth more ghastly lookeIn Dade and Hopton’s pennyworth then thy booke;And sadder record their fixt figure bearesThen thy false-printed and ambitious teares.For were it not for Christmas, which is nigh,When spice, fruit eaten, and digested pyeCall for waste paper; no man could make shiftHow to employ thy writings to his thrift.Wherefore forbear, for pity or for shame,And let some richer penne redeeme his fameFrom rottennesse. Thou leave him captive; sinceSo vile a PRICE ne’ere ransom’d such a Prince.
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- murther n.
- Murder, n. & v.
- 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.]
- pennyworth n.
- A penny's worth; as much as may be bought for a penny.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- penne v. t.
- To write; to compose and commit to paper; to indite; to compose; as, to pen a sonnet.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
In Quendam Anniversariorum Scriptorem 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, In Quendam Anniversariorum Scriptorem, in Poems (1647), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #65375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corbet-poems/in-quendam-anniversariorum-scriptorem.html, id L08888.
Form and metre
In Quendam Anniversariorum Scriptorem is 22 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 91% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% 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 --AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJ on · done · hoastA · ghostA · hearseB · anniverseB · foesC · proseC · makeD · almanakeD · lookeE · bookeE · bearesF · tearesF · nighG · pyeG · shiftH · thriftH · shameI · fameI · sinceJ · princeJ
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Even soe dead Hector thrice was triumph’d on | 10 | /··/˘··/˘· |
| The walls of Troy, thrice slain when Fates had done: | 10 | ·········· |
| So did the barbarous Greekes before their hoast | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Torment his ashes and profane his ghost: | 10 | ˘/·/˘·˘/·· |
| As Henryes vault, his peace, his sacred hearse, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Are torne and batter’d by thine Anniverse. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Was ’t not enough Nature and strength were foes, | 11 | ···˘//˘···· |
| But thou must yearly murther him in prose? | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Or dost thou thinke thy raving phrase can make | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| A lowder eccho then the Almanake? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Trust mee, November doth more ghastly looke | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| In Dade and Hopton’s pennyworth then thy booke; | 11 | ···/˘/˘˘··· |
| And sadder record their fixt figure beares | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Then thy false-printed and ambitious teares. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| For were it not for Christmas, which is nigh, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| When spice, fruit eaten, and digested pye | 10 | ···/˘·/·˘· |
| Call for waste paper; no man could make shift | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| How to employ thy writings to his thrift. | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Wherefore forbear, for pity or for shame, | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘··· |
| And let some richer penne redeeme his fame | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| From rottennesse. Thou leave him captive; since | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| So vile a PRICE ne’ere ransom’d such a Prince. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 1
The notes to the Poems of Richard Corbet (Project Gutenberg #65375).
- Line 12 Two manufacturers of almanacks and prognostics. The latter was, however, of some note as to family, being the fifth son of sir Arthur Hopton by Rachael, daughter of Edmund Hall, of Greatford in Lincolnshire; nor was his fame in learning unequal to his birth. In 1604 he was entered a gentleman commoner of Lincoln college, Oxon, and in 1607 was admitted bachelor of arts. He was held in high estimation by Selden for his mathematical knowledge, but died in the prime of life in the month of Nov. 1614.
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