The Third Elegie
Rich, churlish Land! that hid'st so long in theeMy treasures; rich, alas! by robbing mee.Needs must my miseryes owe that man a spiteWho e're he be was the first wandring knight.O had he nere been at that cruell costNatvre's virginity had nere been lost;Seas had not bin rebuk't by sawcy oaresBut ly'n lockt vp safe in their sacred shores;Men had not spurn'd at mountaines; nor made warrsWith rocks, nor bold hands struck the World's strong barres,Nor lost in too larg bounds, our little RomeFull sweetly with it selfe had dwell't at home.My poor Alexis, then, in peacefull lifeHad vnder some low roofe lou'd his plain wife;But now, ah me! from where he has no foesHe flyes; and into willfull exile goes.Cruell, return, O tell the reason whyThy dearest parents have deseru'd to dy.And I, what is my crime, I cannot tell,Vnlesse it be a crime t' haue lou'd too well.If heates of holyer loue and high desire,Make bigge thy fair brest with immortall fire,What needes my virgin lord fly thus from me,Who only wish his virgin wife to be?Witnesse, chast Heauns! no happyer vowes I knowThen to a virgin grave vntouch't to goe.Loue's truest knott by Venus is not ty'd,Nor doe embraces onely make a bride.The queen of angels (and men chast as you)Was maiden-wife and maiden-mother too.Cecilia, glory of her name and blood,With happy gain her maiden-vowes made good:The lusty bridegroom made approach; young manTake heed (said she) take heed, Valerian!My bosome's guard, a spirit great and strong,Stands arm'd, to sheild me from all wanton wrong;My chastity is sacred; and my SleepWakefull, her dear vowes vndefil'd to keep.Pallas beares armes, forsooth; and should there beNo fortresse built for true Virginity?No gaping Gorgon, this: none, like the restOf your learn'd lyes. Here you'll find no such iest.I'm your's: O were my God, my Christ so too,I'd know no name of Loue on Earth but you.He yeilds, and straight baptis'd, obtains the graceTo gaze on the fair souldier's glorious face.Both mixt at last their blood in one rich bedOf rosy martyrdome, twice married.O burn our Hymen bright in such high flame,Thy torch, terrestriall Loue, haue here no name.How sweet the mutuall yoke of man and wife,When holy fires maintain Loue's heaunly life!But I (so help me Heaun my hopes to see)When thousands sought my loue, lou'd none but thee.Still, as their vain teares my firm vowes did try,Alexis, he alone is mine (said I).Half true, alas! half false, proues that poor line,Alexis is alone; but is not mine.
Words in this poem 15
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- 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.]
- peacefull a.
- Possessing or enjoying peace; not disturbed by war, tumult, agitation, anxiety, or commotion; quiet; tranquil; as, a peaceful time; a peaceful country; a peaceful end.
- willfull a.
- Of set purpose; self-determined; voluntary; as, willful murder. [Will + full.]
- bigge a.
- Having largeness of size; of much bulk or magnitude; of great size; large. [Perh. from Celtic; cf. W. beichiog, beichiawg, pregnant, with child, fr. baich burden, Arm. beac'h; or cf. OE. bygly, Icel. biggiligr, (properly) habitable; (th]
- immortall a.
- Not mortal; exempt from liability to die; undying; imperishable; lasting forever; having unlimited, or eternal, existance. [L. immortalis; pref. im- not + mortalis mortal: cf. F. immortel. See Mortal, and cf. Immortelle.]
- knott n.
- A bond of union; a connection; a tie. [OE. knot, knotte, AS. cnotta; akin to D. knot, OHG. chnodo, chnoto, G. knoten, Icel. kn, Sw. knut, Dan. knude, and perh. to L. nodus. Cf. Knout, Knit.]
- bridegroom n.
- A man newly married, or just about to be married. [OE. bridegome, brudgume, AS. br (akin to OS. br, D. bruidegom, bruigom, OHG. pr, MHG. briutegome, G. bräutigam); AS. br bride + guma man, akin to Goth. guma, Ic]
- wakefull a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- pallas n.
- Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- hymen n.
- A fold of muscous membrane often found at the orifice of the vagina; the vaginal membrane.
- terrestriall a.
- Of or pertaining to the earth; existing on the earth; earthly; as, terrestrial animals. [L. terrestris, from terra the earth. See Terrace.]
- mutuall a.
- Reciprocally acting or related; reciprocally receiving and giving; reciprocally given and received; reciprocal; interchanged; as, a mutual love, advantage, assistance, aversion, etc. [F. mutuel, L. mutuus, orig., exchanged, borrowed, lent; akin to mutare to change. See Mutable.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Third 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 Third 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-third-elegie.html, id L12127.
Form and metre
The Third Elegie is 58 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 79% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 AABB---CC-DDEEFF--GGHHIIJJ--KKLLMMNNOO--PPQQRRSSTTUUVVVVWW theeA · meeA · spiteB · knightB · cost · lost · oares · shoresC · warrsC · barres · romeD · homeD · lifeE · wifeE · foesF · goesF · why · dy · tellG · wellG · desireH · fireH · meI · beI · knowJ · goeJ · ty'd · bride · youK · tooK · bloodL · goodL · manM · valerianM · strongN · wrongN · sleepO · keepO · be · virginity · restP · iestP · tooQ · youQ · graceR · faceR · bedS · marriedS · flameT · nameT · wifeU · lifeU · seeV · theeV · tryV · iV · lineW · mineW
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rich, churlish Land! that hid'st so long in thee | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| My treasures; rich, alas! by robbing mee. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Needs must my miseryes owe that man a spite | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who e're he be was the first wandring knight. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| O had he nere been at that cruell cost | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Natvre's virginity had nere been lost; | 9 | ·˘/˘˘···· |
| Seas had not bin rebuk't by sawcy oares | 10 | ·········· |
| But ly'n lockt vp safe in their sacred shores; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Men had not spurn'd at mountaines; nor made warrs | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| With rocks, nor bold hands struck the World's strong barres, | 10 | ·········· |
| Nor lost in too larg bounds, our little Rome | 10 | ······//˘· |
| Full sweetly with it selfe had dwell't at home. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| My poor Alexis, then, in peacefull life | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| Had vnder some low roofe lou'd his plain wife; | 9 | ········· |
| But now, ah me! from where he has no foes | 10 | ·········· |
| He flyes; and into willfull exile goes. | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| Cruell, return, O tell the reason why | 10 | /˘˘/···/˘· |
| Thy dearest parents have deseru'd to dy. | 11 | ·/˘/˘······ |
| And I, what is my crime, I cannot tell, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Vnlesse it be a crime t' haue lou'd too well. | 10 | ·········· |
| If heates of holyer loue and high desire, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| Make bigge thy fair brest with immortall fire, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| What needes my virgin lord fly thus from me, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who only wish his virgin wife to be? | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Witnesse, chast Heauns! no happyer vowes I know | 10 | ·········· |
| Then to a virgin grave vntouch't to goe. | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Loue's truest knott by Venus is not ty'd, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Nor doe embraces onely make a bride. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| The queen of angels (and men chast as you) | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Was maiden-wife and maiden-mother too. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Cecilia, glory of her name and blood, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| With happy gain her maiden-vowes made good: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| The lusty bridegroom made approach; young man | 10 | ·/˘/··˘/·· |
| Take heed (said she) take heed, Valerian! | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| My bosome's guard, a spirit great and strong, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Stands arm'd, to sheild me from all wanton wrong; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My chastity is sacred; and my Sleep | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘··· |
| Wakefull, her dear vowes vndefil'd to keep. | 10 | ·········· |
| Pallas beares armes, forsooth; and should there be | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| No fortresse built for true Virginity? | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| No gaping Gorgon, this: none, like the rest | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Of your learn'd lyes. Here you'll find no such iest. | 10 | ·········· |
| I'm your's: O were my God, my Christ so too, | 10 | ·········· |
| I'd know no name of Loue on Earth but you. | 10 | ·········· |
| He yeilds, and straight baptis'd, obtains the grace | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| To gaze on the fair souldier's glorious face. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Both mixt at last their blood in one rich bed | 10 | ·········· |
| Of rosy martyrdome, twice married. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| O burn our Hymen bright in such high flame, | 10 | ··//˘····· |
| Thy torch, terrestriall Loue, haue here no name. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| How sweet the mutuall yoke of man and wife, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When holy fires maintain Loue's heaunly life! | 10 | ·/˘/˘/···· |
| But I (so help me Heaun my hopes to see) | 10 | ·········· |
| When thousands sought my loue, lou'd none but thee. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Still, as their vain teares my firm vowes did try, | 10 | ·········· |
| Alexis, he alone is mine (said I). | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/···· |
| Half true, alas! half false, proues that poor line, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Alexis is alone; but is not mine. | 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.