To the Same Party: Covncel Concerning Her Choise
Dear, Heaun-designed sovl!Amongst the restOf suters that beseige your maiden brest,Why may not IMy fortune tryAnd venture to speak one good word,Not for my self, alas! but for my dearer Lord?You have seen allready, in this lower sphearOf froth and bubbles, what to look for here:Say, gentle soul, what can you findBut painted shapes,Peacocks and apes;Illustrious flyes,Guilded dunghills, glorious lyes;Goodly surmisesAnd deep disguises,Oathes of water, words of wind?Trvth biddes me say 'tis time you cease to trustYour soul to any son of dust.'Tis time you listen to a brauer loue,Which from aboueCalls you vp higherAnd biddes you comeAnd choose your roomeAmong His own fair sonnes of fire;Where you amongThe golden throngThat watches at His palace dooresMay passe along,And follow those fair starres of your's;Starrs much too fair and pure to wait vponThe false smiles of a sublunary sun.Sweet, let me prophesy that at last t'will proueYour wary loueLayes vp his purer and more pretious vowes,And meanes them for a farre more worthy SpovseThen this World of lyes can giue ye:Eu'n for Him with Whom nor cost,Nor loue, nor labour can be lost;Him Who neuer will deceiue ye.Let not my Lord, the mighty LouerOf soules, disdain that I discouerThe hidden artOf His high stratagem to win your heart:It was His heaunly artKindly to cross youIn your mistaken loue;That, at the next remoueThence, He might tosse youAnd strike your troubled heartHome to Himself; to hide it in His brest:The bright ambrosiall nestOf Loue, of life, and euerlasting rest.Happy mystake!That thus shall wakeYour wise soul, neuer to be wonneNow with a loue below the sun.Your first choyce failes; O when you choose agenMay it not be amongst the sonnes of men.
Words in this poem
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- 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.]
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- sublunary n.
- Any worldly thing.
- farre n.
- A young pig, or a litter of pigs. [See Farrow.]
- ambrosiall a.
- Consisting of, or partaking of the nature of, ambrosia; delighting the taste or smell; delicious.
- 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,]
- wonne v. i.
- To dwell or abide. [See 1st Wone.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Same Party: Covncel Concerning Her Choise 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, To the Same Party: Covncel Concerning Her Choise, in Steps to the Temple and Other Poems (1646–1652), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crashaw-poems/to-the-same-party-covncel-concerning-her-choise.html, id L12074.
Form and metre
To the Same Party: Covncel Concerning Her Choise is 59 lines in a single stanza. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 51% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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-----CCDDDD-EEFFG--G-H-H---II------JJKKK-LL--MMMNNOO-- sovl · restA · brestA · iB · tryB · word · lord · sphear · here · find · shapesC · apesC · flyesD · lyesD · surmisesD · disguisesD · wind · trustE · dustE · loueF · aboueF · higherG · come · roome · fireG · among · throngH · doores · alongH · your's · vpon · sun · proueI · loueI · vowes · spovse · ye · cost · lost · ye · louerJ · discouerJ · artK · heartK · artK · you · loueL · remoueL · you · heart · brestM · nestM · restM · mystakeN · wakeN · wonneO · sunO · agen · men
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dear, Heaun-designed sovl! | 5 | ··˘/· |
| Amongst the rest | 4 | ···· |
| Of suters that beseige your maiden brest, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Why may not I | 4 | ···· |
| My fortune try | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And venture to speak one good word, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Not for my self, alas! but for my dearer Lord? | 12 | ····˘/···/˘· |
| You have seen allready, in this lower sphear | 10 | ········/· |
| Of froth and bubbles, what to look for here: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Say, gentle soul, what can you find | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But painted shapes, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Peacocks and apes; | 4 | /··· |
| Illustrious flyes, | 5 | ˘/˘˘· |
| Guilded dunghills, glorious lyes; | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| Goodly surmises | 5 | /˘˘/˘ |
| And deep disguises, | 5 | ··˘/˘ |
| Oathes of water, words of wind? | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Trvth biddes me say 'tis time you cease to trust | 10 | ·········· |
| Your soul to any son of dust. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Tis time you listen to a brauer loue, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Which from aboue | 3 | ··· |
| Calls you vp higher | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And biddes you come | 4 | ···· |
| And choose your roome | 4 | ···· |
| Among His own fair sonnes of fire; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Where you among | 4 | ···· |
| The golden throng | 4 | ·/˘· |
| That watches at His palace doores | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| May passe along, | 5 | ··/˘/ |
| And follow those fair starres of your's; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Starrs much too fair and pure to wait vpon | 9 | ········· |
| The false smiles of a sublunary sun. | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘· |
| Sweet, let me prophesy that at last t'will proue | 11 | ···/˘˘····· |
| Your wary loue | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Layes vp his purer and more pretious vowes, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And meanes them for a farre more worthy Spovse | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then this World of lyes can giue ye: | 8 | ········ |
| Eu'n for Him with Whom nor cost, | 7 | ······· |
| Nor loue, nor labour can be lost; | 8 | ···/···· |
| Him Who neuer will deceiue ye. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Let not my Lord, the mighty Louer | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of soules, disdain that I discouer | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| The hidden art | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Of His high stratagem to win your heart: | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| It was His heaunly art | 6 | ······ |
| Kindly to cross you | 5 | /˘··· |
| In your mistaken loue; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| That, at the next remoue | 5 | ····· |
| Thence, He might tosse you | 5 | ····· |
| And strike your troubled heart | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Home to Himself; to hide it in His brest: | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| The bright ambrosiall nest | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Of Loue, of life, and euerlasting rest. | 9 | ········· |
| Happy mystake! | 4 | /˘·· |
| That thus shall wake | 4 | ···· |
| Your wise soul, neuer to be wonne | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Now with a loue below the sun. | 8 | ········ |
| Your first choyce failes; O when you choose agen | 10 | ········˘/ |
| May it not be amongst the sonnes of men. | 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.