Upon the Apparition of a Starr, and the Following Ecclypse
Was heav’ne afray’d to be out-done on earthWhen thou wert borne, great prince, that it brought forthAnother light to helpe the aged sunn,Lest by thy luster he might be out-shone?Or were th’ obsequious starres so joy’d to viewThee, that they thought their countlesse eyes too fewFor such an object; and would needes createA better influence to attend thy state?Or would the Fates thereby shew to the earthA Cæsars birth, as once a Cæsars death?And was ’t that newes that made pale Cynthia runIn so great hast to intercept the sunn;And, enviously, so shee might gaine thy sight,Would darken him from whome shee had her light?Mysterious prodigies yet sure they bee,Prognosticks of a rare prosperity:For, can thy life promise lesse good to men,Whose birth was th’ envy, and the care of heav’ne?
Words in this poem
- sunn n.
- An East Indian leguminous plant (Crotalaria juncea) and its fiber, which is also called sunn hemp. [Hind. san, fr. Skr. çana.]
- obsequious a.
- Promptly obedient, or submissive, to the will of another; compliant; yielding to the desires of another; devoted. [L.obsequiosus, fr. obsequium compliance, fr. obsequi, fr. obsequi: cf. F. obséquieux, See Obsequent, and cf. Obsequy.]
- shew n.
- Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Upon the Apparition of a Starr, and the Following Ecclypse 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, Upon the Apparition of a Starr, and the Following Ecclypse, in Poems (1647), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #65375, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/corbet-poems/upon-the-apparition-of-a-starr-and-the-following-ecclypse.html, id L08904.
Form and metre
Upon the Apparition of a Starr, and the Following Ecclypse is 18 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 78%). 96% 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. 39% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 A-B-CCDDA-BBEE---- earthA · forth · sunnB · shone · viewC · fewC · createD · stateD · earthA · death · runB · sunnB · sightE · lightE · bee · prosperity · men · heav'ne
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Was heav’ne afray’d to be out-done on earth | 10 | ·········· |
| When thou wert borne, great prince, that it brought forth | 10 | ·········· |
| Another light to helpe the aged sunn, | 9 | ˘/˘······ |
| Lest by thy luster he might be out-shone? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Or were th’ obsequious starres so joy’d to view | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Thee, that they thought their countlesse eyes too few | 10 | ·········· |
| For such an object; and would needes create | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| A better influence to attend thy state? | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Or would the Fates thereby shew to the earth | 10 | ·········· |
| A Cæsars birth, as once a Cæsars death? | 8 | ········ |
| And was ’t that newes that made pale Cynthia run | 11 | ········/˘· |
| In so great hast to intercept the sunn; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And, enviously, so shee might gaine thy sight, | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| Would darken him from whome shee had her light? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Mysterious prodigies yet sure they bee, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘˘···· |
| Prognosticks of a rare prosperity: | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| For, can thy life promise lesse good to men, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Whose birth was th’ envy, and the care of heav’ne? | 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.