Second Part
Though still I dy, I liue again;Still longing so to be still slain;So gainfull is such losse of breath,I dy euen in desire of death.Still liue in me this longing strifeOf liuing death and dying life;For while Thou sweetly slayest meDead to my selfe, I liue in Thee.
Words in this poem
- gainfull a.
- Profitable; advantageous; lucrative.
- losse n.
- Praise. See Loos.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Second Part 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, Second Part, in Steps to the Temple and Other Poems (1646–1652), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crashaw-poems/second-part.html, id L12081.
Form and metre
Second Part is 8 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 25% 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 AABBCCDD againA · slainA · breathB · deathB · strifeC · lifeC · meD · theeD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Though still I dy, I liue again; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Still longing so to be still slain; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| So gainfull is such losse of breath, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| I dy euen in desire of death. | 9 | ····˘/˘·· |
| Still liue in me this longing strife | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of liuing death and dying life; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| For while Thou sweetly slayest me | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Dead to my selfe, I liue in Thee. | 8 | ········ |
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.