The Second Elegie
Though all the ioyes I had, fled hence with thee,Vnkind! yet are my teares still true to me:I'm wedded o're again since thou art gone;Nor couldst thou, cruell, leaue me quite alone.Alexis' widdow now is Sorrow's wife,With him shall I weep out my weary life.Wellcome, my sad-sweet mate! Now haue I gottAt last a constant Loue, that leaues me not:Firm he, as thou art false; nor need my cryesThus vex the Earth and teare the beauteous skyes.For him, alas! n'ere shall I need to beTroublesom to the world thus as for thee:For thee I talk to trees; with silent grouesExpostulate my woes and much-wrong'd loues;Hills and relentlesse rockes, or if there beThings that in hardnesse more allude to thee,To these I talk in teares, and tell my pain,And answer too for them in teares again.How oft haue I wept out the weary sun!My watry hour-glasse hath old Time's outrunne.O I am learned grown: poor Loue and IHaue study'd ouer all Astrology;I'm perfect in Heaun's state; with euery starrMy skillfull greife is grown familiar.Rise, fairest of those fires; what'ere thou beWhose rosy beam shall point my sun to me.Such as the sacred light that e'rst did bringThe Eastern princes to their infant King,O rise, pure lamp! and lend thy golden rayThat weary Loue at last may find his way.
Words in this poem
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- 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.]
- 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,]
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- expostulate v. t.
- To discuss; to examine.
- allude v. i.
- To refer to something indirectly or by suggestion; to have reference to a subject not specifically and plainly mentioned; -- followed by to; as, the story alludes to a recent transaction. [L. alludere to play with, to allude; ad + ludere to play.]
- outrunne v. t.
- To exceed, or leave behind, in running; to run faster than; to outstrip; to go beyond.
- starr n.
- One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebulæ. [OE. sterre, AS. steorra; akin to OFries. stera, OS. sterro, D. ster, OHG. sterno, sterro, G. stern, Icel. stjarna, Sw. stjerna, Dan. stierne, Goth. staírno, Arm]
- skillfull a.
- Discerning; reasonable; judicious; cunning. [Written also skilful.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Second Elegie 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, The Second Elegie, in Steps to the Temple and Other Poems (1646–1652), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crashaw-poems/the-second-elegie.html, id L12126.
Form and metre
The Second Elegie is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 80% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AA--BBCCDDAAEEAAFFGGA---AAHHII theeA · meA · gone · alone · wifeB · lifeB · gottC · notC · cryesD · skyesD · beA · theeA · grouesE · louesE · beA · theeA · painF · againF · sunG · outrunneG · iA · astrology · starr · familiar · beA · meA · bringH · kingH · rayI · wayI
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Though all the ioyes I had, fled hence with thee, | 10 | ·········· |
| Vnkind! yet are my teares still true to me: | 9 | ········· |
| I'm wedded o're again since thou art gone; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/···· |
| Nor couldst thou, cruell, leaue me quite alone. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Alexis' widdow now is Sorrow's wife, | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| With him shall I weep out my weary life. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Wellcome, my sad-sweet mate! Now haue I gott | 10 | /········· |
| At last a constant Loue, that leaues me not: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Firm he, as thou art false; nor need my cryes | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus vex the Earth and teare the beauteous skyes. | 11 | ·······/˘˘· |
| For him, alas! n'ere shall I need to be | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Troublesom to the world thus as for thee: | 10 | ·········· |
| For thee I talk to trees; with silent groues | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Expostulate my woes and much-wrong'd loues; | 10 | ˘/˘˘······ |
| Hills and relentlesse rockes, or if there be | 10 | ·········· |
| Things that in hardnesse more allude to thee, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| To these I talk in teares, and tell my pain, | 10 | ·········· |
| And answer too for them in teares again. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| How oft haue I wept out the weary sun! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My watry hour-glasse hath old Time's outrunne. | 10 | ·/˘/····˘/ |
| O I am learned grown: poor Loue and I | 10 | ····˘····· |
| Haue study'd ouer all Astrology; | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| I'm perfect in Heaun's state; with euery starr | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| My skillfull greife is grown familiar. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Rise, fairest of those fires; what'ere thou be | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Whose rosy beam shall point my sun to me. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Such as the sacred light that e'rst did bring | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The Eastern princes to their infant King, | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| O rise, pure lamp! and lend thy golden ray | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That weary Loue at last may find his way. | 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.