Vpon Bishop Andrews' Picture Before His Sermons
This reverend shadow cast that setting sun,Whose glorious course through our horrizon run,Left the dimme face of this dull hemispheare,All one great eye, all drown'd in one great teare.Whose faire, illustrious soule, led his free thoughtThrough Learning's vniverse, and (vainly) soughtRoom for her spatious selfe, untill at lengthShee found the way home, with an holy strength;Snatch't her self hence to Heaven: fill'd a bright place,'Mongst those immortall fires, and on the faceOf her great Maker fixt her flaming eye,There still to read true, pure divinity.And now that grave aspect hath deign'd to shrinkeInto this lesse appearance: If you thinke'Tis but a dead face, Art doth here bequeath:Looke on the following leaves, and see him breath.
Words in this poem
- reverend a.
- Worthy of reverence; entitled to respect mingled with fear and affection; venerable. [F. révérend, L. reverendus, fr. revereri. See Revere.]
- 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.]
- dimme a.
- Not bright or distinct; wanting luminousness or clearness; obscure in luster or sound; dusky; darkish; obscure; indistinct; overcast; tarnished. [AS. dim; akin to OFries. dim, Icel. dimmr: cf. MHG. timmer, timber; of uncertain origin.]
- untill prep.
- To; unto; towards; -- used of material objects. [OE. until, ontil; un- (as in unto) + til till; cf. Dan. indtil, Sw. intill. See Unto, and Till, prep.]
- 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.]
- bequeath v. t.
- To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property. [OE. biquethen, AS. becwe to say, affirm, bequeath; pref. be- + cwe to say, speak. See Quoth.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Vpon Bishop Andrews' Picture Before His Sermons 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, Vpon Bishop Andrews' Picture Before His Sermons, in Steps to the Temple and Other Poems (1646–1652), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #38549, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/crashaw-poems/vpon-bishop-andrews-picture-before-his-sermons.html, id L12099.
Form and metre
Vpon Bishop Andrews' Picture Before His Sermons is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 75% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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 AABBCCDDEE--FF-- sunA · runA · hemispheareB · teareB · thoughtC · soughtC · lengthD · strengthD · placeE · faceE · eye · divinity · shrinkeF · thinkeF · bequeath · breath
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 |
|---|---|---|
| This reverend shadow cast that setting sun, | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| Whose glorious course through our horrizon run, | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| Left the dimme face of this dull hemispheare, | 10 | ·········· |
| All one great eye, all drown'd in one great teare. | 10 | ·········· |
| Whose faire, illustrious soule, led his free thought | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Through Learning's vniverse, and (vainly) sought | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Room for her spatious selfe, untill at length | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Shee found the way home, with an holy strength; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Snatch't her self hence to Heaven: fill'd a bright place, | 10 | ·····/···· |
| 'Mongst those immortall fires, and on the face | 10 | ··˘/˘/···· |
| Of her great Maker fixt her flaming eye, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| There still to read true, pure divinity. | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| And now that grave aspect hath deign'd to shrinke | 10 | ····/····· |
| Into this lesse appearance: If you thinke | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| 'Tis but a dead face, Art doth here bequeath: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Looke on the following leaves, and see him breath. | 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.