The Eighth Decade
Persever ever and have never done,You weeping accent of my weary song!O do not you eternal passions shun,But be you true and everlasting long!Say that she doth requite you with disdain;Yet fortified with hope, endure your fortune;Though cruel now she will be kind again;Such haps as those, such loves as yours importune.Though she protests the faithfullest severityInexecrable beauty is inflicting,Kindness in time will pity your sincerity,Though now it be your fortune's interdicting.For some can say, whose loves have known like passion,"Women are kind by kind, and coy for fashion."
Give period to my matter of complaining,Fair wonder of our time's admiring eye,And entertain no more thy long disdaining,Or give me leave at last that I may die.For who can live, perpetually secludedFrom death to life, that loathes her discontent?Lest by some hope seducively deluded,Such thoughts aspire to fortunate event;But I that now have drawn mal-pleasant breathUnder the burden of thy cruel hate,O, I must long and linger after death,And yet I dare not give my life her date;For if I die and thou repent t' have slain me,'Twill grieve me more than if thou didst disdain me.
'Twill grieve me more than if thou didst disdain me,That I should die; and thou, because I die so.And yet to die, it should not know to pain me,If cruel beauty were content to bid so.Death to my life, life to my long despairProlonged by her, given to my love and days,Are means to tell how truly she is fair,And I can die to testify her praise.Yet not to die, though fairness me despiseth,Is cause why in complaint I thus persever;Though death me and my love inparadiseth,By interdicting me from her for ever.I do not grieve that I am forced to die,But die to think upon the reason why.
My tears are true. Though others be divine,And sing of wars and Troy's new rising frame,Meeting heroic feet in every line,That tread high measures in the scene of fame,And I, though disaccustoming my muse,And sing but low songs in an humble vein,May one day raise my style as others use,And turn Elizon to a higher strain.When re-intombing from oblivious agesIn better stanzas her surviving wonder,I may opposed against the monster rageThat part desert and excellence asunder;That she though coy may yet survive to see,Her beauty's wonder lives again in me.
Sometimes in verse I praised, sometimes in verse sighed;No more shall pen with love and beauty mell,But to my heart alone my heart shall tellHow unseen flames do burn it day and night,Lest flames give light, light bring my love to sight,And my love prove my folly to excel.Wherefore my love burns like the fire of hell,Wherein is fire and yet there is no light;For if one never loved like me, then whySkill-less blames he the thing he doth not know?And he that so hath loved should favour show,For he hath been a fool as well as I.Thus shall henceforth more pain, more folly have;And folly past, may justly pardon crave.
Fair by inheritance, whom born we seeBoth in the wondrous year and on the dayWherein the fairest planet beareth sway,The heavens to thee this fortune doth decree!Thou of a world of hearts in time shall beA monarch great, and with one beauty's raySo many hosts of hearts thy face shall slay,As all the rest for love shall yield to thee,But even as Alexander when he knewHis father's conquests wept, lest he should leaveNo kingdom unto him for to subdue:So shall thy mother thee of praise bereave;So many hearts already she hath slain,As few behind to conquer shall remain.
Words in this poem 18
- importune a.
- Inopportune; unseasonable. [F. importun, L. importunus; pref. im- not + a derivative from the root of portus harbor, importunus therefore orig. meaning, hard of access. See Port harbor, an]
- inexecrable a.
- That can not be execrated enough.
- admiring a.
- Expressing admiration; as, an admiring glance.
- perpetually adv.
- In a perpetual manner; constantly; continually.
- aspire v. t.
- To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
- repent a.
- Prostrate and rooting; -- said of stems. Gray. [L. repens, -entis, creeping, p. pr. of repere to creep.]
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- testify v. i.
- To make a solemn declaration, verbal or written, to establish some fact; to give testimony for the purpose of communicating to others a knowledge of something not known to them. [OF. testifier, L. testificari; testis a witness + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy, and cf. Attest, Contest, Detest, Protest, Testament.]
- oblivious a.
- Promoting oblivion; causing forgetfulness. [L.obliviosus: cf.F. oblivieux.]
- surviving a.
- Remaining alive; yet living or existing; as, surviving friends; surviving customs.
- 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,]
- mell v. i.
- To mix; to meddle. [F. mêler, OF. meller, mester. See Meddle.]
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Eighth Decade is in the public domain. This text is taken from Elizabethan Sonnet-Cycles: Delia - Diana, Project Gutenberg ebook #18842; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Daniel, The Eighth Decade, in Delia, with Constable's Diana (1592), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18842, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/daniel-delia/the-eighth-decade.html, id L02791.
Form and metre
The Eighth Decade is 84 lines in 6 stanzas of 14 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 17 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 17% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other English sonnets, 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 ABABCDCDEFEFGG doneA · songB · shunA · longB · disdainC · fortuneD · againC · importuneD · severityE · inflictingF · sincerityE · interdictingF · passionG · fashionG
- 2 ABABCDCDEFEFGG complainingA · eyeB · disdainingA · dieB · secludedC · discontentD · deludedC · eventD · breathE · hateF · deathE · dateF · meG · meG
- 3 ABABCDCDEFEFGG meA · soB · meA · soB · despairC · daysD · fairC · praiseD · despisethE · perseverF · inparadisethE · everF · dieG · whyG
- 4 ABABCDCDEFEFGG divineA · frameB · lineA · fameB · museC · veinD · useC · strainD · agesE · wonderF · rageE · asunderF · seeG · meG
- 5 ABABCDCDEFEFGG sighedA · mellB · tellA · nightB · sightC · excelD · hellC · lightD · whyE · knowF · showE · iF · haveG · craveG
- 6 ABABCDCDEFEFGG seeA · dayB · swayA · decreeB · beC · rayD · slayC · theeD · knewE · leaveF · subdueE · bereaveF · slainG · remainG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Persever ever and have never done, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| You weeping accent of my weary song! | 10 | ·/˘/···/˘· |
| O do not you eternal passions shun, | 10 | ····˘/˘/˘· |
| But be you true and everlasting long! | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Say that she doth requite you with disdain; | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| Yet fortified with hope, endure your fortune; | 11 | ·/˘···˘/·/˘ |
| Though cruel now she will be kind again; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| Such haps as those, such loves as yours importune. | 11 | ··········· |
| Though she protests the faithfullest severity | 11 | ··˘/·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Inexecrable beauty is inflicting, | 11 | ˘/˘˘˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Kindness in time will pity your sincerity, | 11 | /˘···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Though now it be your fortune's interdicting. | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| For some can say, whose loves have known like passion, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| "Women are kind by kind, and coy for fashion." | 11 | /˘·······/˘ |
| Give period to my matter of complaining, | 11 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Fair wonder of our time's admiring eye, | 10 | ·/˘·/·˘/˘· |
| And entertain no more thy long disdaining, | 11 | ··˘/····˘/˘ |
| Or give me leave at last that I may die. | 10 | ·········· |
| For who can live, perpetually secluded | 11 | ····˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| From death to life, that loathes her discontent? | 10 | ·······˘˘/ |
| Lest by some hope seducively deluded, | 12 | ·········˘/˘ |
| Such thoughts aspire to fortunate event; | 10 | ··˘/·/˘˘˘/ |
| But I that now have drawn mal-pleasant breath | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Under the burden of thy cruel hate, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| O, I must long and linger after death, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And yet I dare not give my life her date; | 10 | ·········· |
| For if I die and thou repent t' have slain me, | 12 | ······˘/···· |
| 'Twill grieve me more than if thou didst disdain me. | 11 | ········˘/· |
| 'Twill grieve me more than if thou didst disdain me, | 11 | ········˘/· |
| That I should die; and thou, because I die so. | 11 | ··········· |
| And yet to die, it should not know to pain me, | 11 | ··········· |
| If cruel beauty were content to bid so. | 10 | ·//˘·˘/··· |
| Death to my life, life to my long despair | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Prolonged by her, given to my love and days, | 10 | ˘/··/····· |
| Are means to tell how truly she is fair, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And I can die to testify her praise. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Yet not to die, though fairness me despiseth, | 11 | ·····/˘·˘/˘ |
| Is cause why in complaint I thus persever; | 11 | ····˘/··˘/˘ |
| Though death me and my love inparadiseth, | 11 | ··········· |
| By interdicting me from her for ever. | 11 | ··˘/˘····/˘ |
| I do not grieve that I am forced to die, | 10 | ·········· |
| But die to think upon the reason why. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| My tears are true. Though others be divine, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And sing of wars and Troy's new rising frame, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Meeting heroic feet in every line, | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| That tread high measures in the scene of fame, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And I, though disaccustoming my muse, | 10 | ·········· |
| And sing but low songs in an humble vein, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| May one day raise my style as others use, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And turn Elizon to a higher strain. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| When re-intombing from oblivious ages | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| In better stanzas her surviving wonder, | 11 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| I may opposed against the monster rage | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| That part desert and excellence asunder; | 11 | ··˘/·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| That she though coy may yet survive to see, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| Her beauty's wonder lives again in me. | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| Sometimes in verse I praised, sometimes in verse sighed; | 11 | ˘/····˘/··· |
| No more shall pen with love and beauty mell, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| But to my heart alone my heart shall tell | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| How unseen flames do burn it day and night, | 10 | ·˘/······· |
| Lest flames give light, light bring my love to sight, | 10 | ·········· |
| And my love prove my folly to excel. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Wherefore my love burns like the fire of hell, | 10 | /˘·····/·· |
| Wherein is fire and yet there is no light; | 10 | ···/······ |
| For if one never loved like me, then why | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Skill-less blames he the thing he doth not know? | 10 | ·········· |
| And he that so hath loved should favour show, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For he hath been a fool as well as I. | 10 | ·········· |
| Thus shall henceforth more pain, more folly have; | 10 | ··//···/˘· |
| And folly past, may justly pardon crave. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| Fair by inheritance, whom born we see | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| Both in the wondrous year and on the day | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Wherein the fairest planet beareth sway, | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| The heavens to thee this fortune doth decree! | 11 | ·/˘···/˘·˘/ |
| Thou of a world of hearts in time shall be | 10 | ·········· |
| A monarch great, and with one beauty's ray | 10 | ·/·····/˘· |
| So many hosts of hearts thy face shall slay, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| As all the rest for love shall yield to thee, | 10 | ·········· |
| But even as Alexander when he knew | 10 | ·/··˘/˘··· |
| His father's conquests wept, lest he should leave | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| No kingdom unto him for to subdue: | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| So shall thy mother thee of praise bereave; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| So many hearts already she hath slain, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| As few behind to conquer shall remain. | 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.