To Mary
The twentieth year is well-nigh pastSince first our sky was overcast,Ah, would that this might be the last!My Mary!
Thy spirits have a fainter flow,I see thee daily weaker grow--'Twas my distress that brought thee low,My Mary!
Thy needles, once a shining store,For my sake restless heretofore,Now rust disused, and shine no more,My Mary!
For though thou gladly wouldst fulfilThe same kind office for me still,Thy sight now seconds not thy will,My Mary!
But well thou playedst the housewife's part,And all thy threads with magic artHave wound themselves about this heart,My Mary!
Thy indistinct expressions seemLike language uttered in a dream;Yet me they charm, whate'er the theme,My Mary!
Thy silver locks, once auburn bright,Are still more lovely in my sightThan golden beams of orient light,My Mary!
For could I view nor them nor thee,What sight worth seeing could I see?The sun would rise in vain for me,My Mary!
Partakers of thy sad decline,Thy hands their little force resign;Yet gently prest, press gently mine,My Mary!
Such feebleness of limbs thou prov'st,That now at every step thou mov'stUpheld by two, yet still thou lov'st,My Mary!
And still to love, though prest with ill,In wintry age to feel no chill,With me, is to be lovely still,My Mary!
But ah! by constant heed I know,How oft the sadness that I show,Transforms thy smiles to looks of woe,My Mary!
And should my future lot be castWith much resemblance of the past,Thy worn-out heart will break at last,My Mary!
Words in this poem
- overcast v. t.
- To cast or cover over; hence, to cloud; to darken.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- auburn a.
- Flaxen-colored. Florio. [OE. auburne blonde, OF. alborne, auborne, fr. LL. alburnus whitish, fr. L. albus white. Cf. Alburn.]
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- wintry a.
- Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mary is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Task, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #3698; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: William Cowper, To Mary, in The Task (1785), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3698, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/cowper-task/to-mary.html, id L06474.
Form and metre
To Mary is 52 lines in 13 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% 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 AAA- pastA · overcastA · lastA · mary
- 2 AAA- flowA · growA · lowA · mary
- 3 AAA- storeA · heretoforeA · moreA · mary
- 4 -AA- fulfil · stillA · willA · mary
- 5 AAA- partA · artA · heartA · mary
- 6 AAA- seemA · dreamA · themeA · mary
- 7 AAA- brightA · sightA · lightA · mary
- 8 AAA- theeA · seeA · meA · mary
- 9 AAA- declineA · resignA · mineA · mary
- 10 AAA- prov'stA · mov'stA · lov'stA · mary
- 11 AAA- illA · chillA · stillA · mary
- 12 AAA- knowA · showA · woeA · mary
- 13 AAA- castA · pastA · lastA · mary
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The twentieth year is well-nigh past | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Since first our sky was overcast, | 9 | ··/˘··/˘· |
| Ah, would that this might be the last! | 8 | ········ |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Thy spirits have a fainter flow, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I see thee daily weaker grow-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| 'Twas my distress that brought thee low, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Thy needles, once a shining store, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| For my sake restless heretofore, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Now rust disused, and shine no more, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| For though thou gladly wouldst fulfil | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The same kind office for me still, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thy sight now seconds not thy will, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| But well thou playedst the housewife's part, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And all thy threads with magic art | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Have wound themselves about this heart, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Thy indistinct expressions seem | 8 | ·˘˘/˘/˘· |
| Like language uttered in a dream; | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘··· |
| Yet me they charm, whate'er the theme, | 9 | ····˘˘/·· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Thy silver locks, once auburn bright, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Are still more lovely in my sight | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Than golden beams of orient light, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| For could I view nor them nor thee, | 8 | ········ |
| What sight worth seeing could I see? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sun would rise in vain for me, | 8 | ········ |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Partakers of thy sad decline, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Thy hands their little force resign; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Yet gently prest, press gently mine, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| Such feebleness of limbs thou prov'st, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| That now at every step thou mov'st | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Upheld by two, yet still thou lov'st, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And still to love, though prest with ill, | 8 | ········ |
| In wintry age to feel no chill, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With me, is to be lovely still, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| But ah! by constant heed I know, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How oft the sadness that I show, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Transforms thy smiles to looks of woe, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
| And should my future lot be cast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With much resemblance of the past, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Thy worn-out heart will break at last, | 8 | ········ |
| My Mary! | 3 | ·/˘ |
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.