Another
If ever Pitty were acquaintedWith sterne Death; if e're he fainted,Or forgot the cruell vigourOf an adamantine rigour;Here, or no where, hee'd have showne it.For hee, whose pretious memoryBathes in teares of every eye;Hee, to whom our Sorrow bringsAll the streames of all her springs;Was so rich in grace, and nature,In all the gifts that blesse a creature;The fresh hopes of his lovely youthFlourish't in so faire a growth;So sweet the temple was, that shrin'dThe sacred sweetnesse of his mind;That could the Fates know to relent,Could they know what mercy meant,Or had ever learnt to beareThe soft tincture of a teare;Teares would now have flow'd so deepe,As might have taught Griefe how to weepe.Now all their steely operationWould quite have lost the cruell fashion.Sicknesse would have gladly beenSick himselfe to have sav'd him;And his feaver wish'd to prove,Burning onely in his love.Him when Wrath it selfe had seen,Wrath it selfe had lost his spleen.Grim Destruction here amaz'd,In stead of striking, would have gaz'd.Even the iron-pointed pen,That notes the tragick doomes of men,Wet with teares, 'still'd from the eyesOf the flinty Destinies,Would have learn't a softer style,And have been asham'd to spoyleHis live's sweet story, by the hastOf a cruell stop, ill plac't.In the darke volume of our fate,Whence each lease of life hath date,Where in sad particularsThe totall summe of man appeares,And the short clause of mortall breath,Bound in the period of Death:In all the booke if any whereSuch a tearme as this, 'Spare here,'Could been found, 'twould have been read,Writ in white letters o're his head:Or close unto his name annext,The faire glosse of a fairer text.In briefe, if any one were freeHee was that one, and onely hee.But he, alas! even hee is dead,And our hope's faire harvest spreadIn the dust. Pitty, now spendAll the teares that Griefe can lend.Sad Mortality may hideIn his ashes all her pride;With this inscription o're his head,'All hope of never dying here is dead.'
Words in this poem
- cruell a.
- Disposed to give pain to others; willing or pleased to hurt, torment, or afflict; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; inhuman; hard-hearted; merciless. [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
- rigour n.
- Rigidity; stiffness. [L. See Rigor., below.]
- relent v. i.
- To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
- steely a.
- Made of steel; consisting of steel.
- gladly adv.
- Preferably; by choice. [From Glad, a.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- totall a.
- Whole; not divided; entire; full; complete; absolute; as, a total departure from the evidence; a total loss. [F., fr. LL. totalis, fr. L. tolus all,whole. Cf. Factotum, Surtout, Teetotum.]
- summe n.
- The aggregate of two or more numbers, magnitudes, quantities, or particulars; the amount or whole of any number of individuals or particulars added together; as, the sum of 5 and 7 is 12. [OE. summe, somme, OF. sume, some, F. somme, L. summa, fr. summus highest, a superlative from sub under. See Sub-, and cf. Supreme.]
- mortall a.
- Subject to death; destined to die; as, man is mortal. [F. mortel, L. mortalis, from mors, mortis, death, fr. moriri 8die; akin to E. murder. See Murder, and cf. Filemot, Mere a lake, Mortgage.]
- mortality n.
- The condition or quality of being mortal; subjection to death or to the necessity of dying. [L. mortalitas: cf. F. mortalité.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Another 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, Another, in Steps to the Temple and Other Poems (1646–1652), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crashaw-poems/another.html, id L12103.
Form and metre
Another is 61 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 11 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% 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 AABB---CC----DDEEFFGGHHH-IIJJKKLLMM----NN--OOPPQQRRSSTTUUVVWW acquaintedA · faintedA · vigourB · rigourB · it · memory · eye · bringsC · springsC · nature · creature · youth · growth · shrin'dD · mindD · relentE · meantE · beareF · teareF · deepeG · weepeG · operationH · fashionH · beenH · him · proveI · loveI · seenJ · spleenJ · amaz'dK · gaz'dK · penL · menL · eyesM · destiniesM · style · spoyle · hast · plac't · fateN · dateN · particulars · appeares · breathO · deathO · whereP · hereP · readQ · headQ · annextR · textR · freeS · heeS · deadT · spreadT · spendU · lendU · hideV · prideV · headW · deadW
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 |
|---|---|---|
| If ever Pitty were acquainted | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| With sterne Death; if e're he fainted, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Or forgot the cruell vigour | 8 | ·˘/·/˘/˘ |
| Of an adamantine rigour; | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Here, or no where, hee'd have showne it. | 8 | ········ |
| For hee, whose pretious memory | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Bathes in teares of every eye; | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| Hee, to whom our Sorrow brings | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| All the streames of all her springs; | 7 | ······· |
| Was so rich in grace, and nature, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| In all the gifts that blesse a creature; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The fresh hopes of his lovely youth | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Flourish't in so faire a growth; | 7 | ······· |
| So sweet the temple was, that shrin'd | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The sacred sweetnesse of his mind; | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| That could the Fates know to relent, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Could they know what mercy meant, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Or had ever learnt to beare | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| The soft tincture of a teare; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Teares would now have flow'd so deepe, | 7 | ······· |
| As might have taught Griefe how to weepe. | 8 | ········ |
| Now all their steely operation | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Would quite have lost the cruell fashion. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Sicknesse would have gladly been | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Sick himselfe to have sav'd him; | 7 | ······· |
| And his feaver wish'd to prove, | 7 | ······· |
| Burning onely in his love. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Him when Wrath it selfe had seen, | 7 | ······· |
| Wrath it selfe had lost his spleen. | 7 | ······· |
| Grim Destruction here amaz'd, | 7 | ·˘/˘·˘/ |
| In stead of striking, would have gaz'd. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Even the iron-pointed pen, | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| That notes the tragick doomes of men, | 8 | ········ |
| Wet with teares, 'still'd from the eyes | 7 | ······· |
| Of the flinty Destinies, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Would have learn't a softer style, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And have been asham'd to spoyle | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| His live's sweet story, by the hast | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Of a cruell stop, ill plac't. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| In the darke volume of our fate, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Whence each lease of life hath date, | 7 | ······· |
| Where in sad particulars | 7 | ···˘/˘˘ |
| The totall summe of man appeares, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And the short clause of mortall breath, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Bound in the period of Death: | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| In all the booke if any where | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Such a tearme as this, 'Spare here,' | 7 | ······· |
| Could been found, 'twould have been read, | 7 | ······· |
| Writ in white letters o're his head: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or close unto his name annext, | 8 | ········ |
| The faire glosse of a fairer text. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In briefe, if any one were free | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Hee was that one, and onely hee. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| But he, alas! even hee is dead, | 9 | ··˘//˘··· |
| And our hope's faire harvest spread | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| In the dust. Pitty, now spend | 7 | ······· |
| All the teares that Griefe can lend. | 7 | ······· |
| Sad Mortality may hide | 7 | ·˘/˘˘·· |
| In his ashes all her pride; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| With this inscription o're his head, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| 'All hope of never dying here is dead.' | 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.