A Song: Out of the Italian
To thy loverDeere, discoverThat sweet blush of thine that shameth--When those rosesIt discloses--All the flowers that Nature nameth.
In free ayre,Flow thy haire;That no more Summer's best dresses,Bee beholdenFor their goldenLocks, to Phoebus' flaming tresses.
O deliverLove his quiver;From thy eyes he shoots his arrowes:Where ApolloCannot follow:Featherd with his mother's sparrowes.
O envy not--That we dye not--Those deere lips whose doore enclosesAll the GracesIn their places,Brother pearles, and sister roses.
From these treasuresOf ripe pleasuresOne bright smile to cleere the weather.Earth and HeavenThus made even,Both will be good friends together.
The aire does wooe thee,Winds cling to thee;Might a word once fly from out thee,Storme and thunderWould sit under,And keepe silence round about thee.
But if Nature'sCommon creatures,So deare glories dare not borrow:Yet thy beautyOwes a duty,To my loving, lingring sorrow,
When to end meeDeath shall send meeAll his terrors to affright mee:Thine eyes' GracesGild their faces,And those terrors shall delight mee.
When my dyingLife is flying,Those sweet aires that often slew meeShall revive mee,Or reprive mee,And to many deaths renew mee.
Words in this poem
- discover v. i.
- To discover or show one's self.
- beholden p. a.
- Obliged; bound in gratitude; indebted. [Old p. p. of behold, used in the primitive sense of the simple verb hold.]
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- reprive v. t.
- To take back or away. [Pref. re- + L. privare to deprive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song: Out of the Italian is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #38549; 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 Crashaw, A Song: Out of the Italian, in Steps to the Temple and Other Poems (1646–1652), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crashaw-poems/a-song-out-of-the-italian.html, id L12111.
Form and metre
A Song: Out of the Italian is 54 lines in 9 stanzas of 6 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is AABCCB, in 3 of the 9 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is trochaic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.4 syllables. 35 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 41% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic dimeter.
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 AABCCB loverA · discoverA · shamethB · rosesC · disclosesC · namethB
- 2 AABCCB ayreA · haireA · dressesB · beholdenC · goldenC · tressesB
- 3 AA-BB- deliverA · quiverA · arrowes · apolloB · followB · sparrowes
- 4 AABCCB notA · notA · enclosesB · gracesC · placesC · rosesB
- 5 AAB--B treasuresA · pleasuresA · weatherB · heaven · even · togetherB
- 6 AAABBA theeA · theeA · theeA · thunderB · underB · theeA
- 7 ---AA- nature's · creatures · borrow · beautyA · dutyA · sorrow
- 8 AAABBA meeA · meeA · meeA · gracesB · facesB · meeA
- 9 AABBBB dyingA · flyingA · meeB · meeB · meeB · meeB
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 trochaic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| To thy lover | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Deere, discover | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| That sweet blush of thine that shameth | 8 | ······/˘ |
| --When those roses | 4 | ··/˘ |
| It discloses-- | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| All the flowers that Nature nameth. | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| In free ayre, | 3 | ··· |
| Flow thy haire; | 3 | ··· |
| That no more Summer's best dresses, | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| Bee beholden | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| For their golden | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Locks, to Phoebus' flaming tresses. | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
| O deliver | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Love his quiver; | 4 | ··/˘ |
| From thy eyes he shoots his arrowes: | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Where Apollo | 4 | ·˘/˘ |
| Cannot follow: | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| Featherd with his mother's sparrowes. | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| O envy not | 4 | ·/˘· |
| --That we dye not-- | 4 | ···· |
| Those deere lips whose doore encloses | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| All the Graces | 4 | ··/˘ |
| In their places, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Brother pearles, and sister roses. | 8 | /˘··/˘/˘ |
| From these treasures | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Of ripe pleasures | 4 | ··/˘ |
| One bright smile to cleere the weather. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Earth and Heaven | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Thus made even, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Both will be good friends together. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| The aire does wooe thee, | 5 | ····· |
| Winds cling to thee; | 4 | ···· |
| Might a word once fly from out thee, | 8 | ········ |
| Storme and thunder | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Would sit under, | 4 | ···· |
| And keepe silence round about thee. | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| But if Nature's | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Common creatures, | 4 | /˘/˘ |
| So deare glories dare not borrow: | 8 | ··/˘··/· |
| Yet thy beauty | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Owes a duty, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| To my loving, lingring sorrow, | 9 | ··/˘/˘˘/˘ |
| When to end mee | 4 | ···· |
| Death shall send mee | 4 | ···· |
| All his terrors to affright mee: | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| Thine eyes' Graces | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Gild their faces, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| And those terrors shall delight mee. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
| When my dying | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Life is flying, | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Those sweet aires that often slew mee | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Shall revive mee, | 4 | ·˘/· |
| Or reprive mee, | 4 | ·˘/· |
| And to many deaths renew mee. | 8 | ··/˘·˘/· |
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