JONSON’s Underwoods
To Oxenford our king is goneWith all his noble peers.—&c.
A William Lake, who was M. A. and a fellow of Clare Hall in 1619, hadalso a ring bequeathed him by Ruggles, and might have been the author.See Hawkins’s edition of Ignoramus. Utrum horum mavis accipe.
Science thereSat musing; and to those that loved the lorePointed, with mystic wand, to truths involvedIn geometric symbols, scorning thosePerchance too much, who woo’d the thriftless Muse.
Words in this poem
- clare n.
- A nun of the order of St.Clare.
- mavis n.
- The European throstle or song thrush (Turdus musicus). [F. mauvis, Arm. milvid, milfid, milc'hhouid, Corn. melhuez.]
- geometric a.
- Pertaining to, or according to the rules or principles of, geometry; determined by geometry; as, a geometrical solution of a problem. [L. geometricus; Gr. géométrique.]
- thriftless a.
- Without thrift; not prudent or prosperous in money affairs.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
JONSON’s Underwoods 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, JONSON’s Underwoods, in Poems (1647), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #65375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corbet-poems/jonson-s-underwoods.html, id L08925.
Form and metre
JONSON’s Underwoods is 10 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 84% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 11.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 60% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter, other poems in blank verse.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| To Oxenford our king is gone | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| With all his noble peers.—&c. | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| A William Lake, who was M. A. and a fellow of Clare Hall in 1619, had | 17 | ·/˘·······/˘····· |
| also a ring bequeathed him by Ruggles, and might have been the author. | 17 | /˘··˘/··/˘·····/˘ |
| See Hawkins’s edition of Ignoramus. Utrum horum mavis accipe. | 19 | ·/˘˘/˘··˘/˘····/˘·· |
| Science there | 3 | /˘· |
| Sat musing; and to those that loved the lore | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Pointed, with mystic wand, to truths involved | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| In geometric symbols, scorning those | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| Perchance too much, who woo’d the thriftless Muse. | 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.