“Memoriæ Sacrum
Thomas Ravis, claris natalibus Mauldenæ in Suthreia natus,Regius Alumnus in Schola Westmonasteriensi educatus, inAcademiam Oxoniensem adscitus, omnes academicos honoresconsequutus, et magistratibus perfunctus, Decanus EcclesiæChristi ibidem constitutus, et bis Academiæ Pro-Cancellarius.Unde ob doctrinam, gravitatem, et spectatam prudentiam, à RegeJacobo, primum ad Episcopatum Glocestrensem provectus, deindead Londinensem translatus, et demum à Christo, dum Ecclesiæ,Patriæ, Principi vigilaret, in cœlestem patriam evocatus,placide pieque emigravit, et quod mortale fuit, certa speresurgendi, hic deposuit, die 14 Decembris, An. salutis 1609.”
Words in this poem
- regius a.
- Of or pertaining to a king; royal. Regius professor, an incumbent of a professorship founded by royal bounty, as in an English university. [L. regius, from rex, regis, a king.]
- alumnus n.
- A pupil; especially, a graduate of a college or other seminary of learning. [L., fr. alere to nourish.]
- ibidem adv.
- In the same place; -- abbreviated ibid. or ib. [L.]
- unde a.
- Waving or wavy; -- applied to ordinaries, or division lines. [F. ondé.]
- quod v.
- Quoth; said. See Quoth.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
“Memoriæ Sacrum 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, “Memoriæ Sacrum, in Poems (1647), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #65375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corbet-poems/memori-sacrum.html, id L08879.
Form and metre
“Memoriæ Sacrum is 11 lines in a single stanza. 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 18.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 55% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 A--B---BA-- natusA · in · honores · ecclesiæB · cancellarius · rege · deinde · ecclesiæB · evocatusA · spe · —
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Ravis, claris natalibus Mauldenæ in Suthreia natus, | 17 | /˘·//˘····/˘····· |
| Regius Alumnus in Schola Westmonasteriensi educatus, in | 20 | /˘˘˘/˘·············· |
| Academiam Oxoniensem adscitus, omnes academicos honores | 19 | ·················/˘ |
| consequutus, et magistratibus perfunctus, Decanus Ecclesiæ | 19 | ··················· |
| Christi ibidem constitutus, et bis Academiæ Pro-Cancellarius. | 20 | /˘˘/˘··············· |
| Unde ob doctrinam, gravitatem, et spectatam prudentiam, à Rege | 18 | /˘················ |
| Jacobo, primum ad Episcopatum Glocestrensem provectus, deinde | 19 | ˘/˘················ |
| ad Londinensem translatus, et demum à Christo, dum Ecclesiæ, | 17 | ···········/˘···· |
| Patriæ, Principi vigilaret, in cœlestem patriam evocatus, | 19 | ··················· |
| placide pieque emigravit, et quod mortale fuit, certa spe | 16 | ················ |
| resurgendi, hic deposuit, die 14 Decembris, An. salutis 1609.” | 16 | ················ |
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.