Laurel · Samuel Daniel · Delia, with Constable's Diana

The Sixth Decade

Samuel Daniel (1562–1619) · 1592

iambic pentameter · English sonnet · 140 lines · from Delia, with Constable's Diana

One sun unto my life's day gives true light.One moon dissolves my stormy night of woes.One star my fate and happy fortune shows.One saint I serve, one shrine with vows I dight.One sun transfix'd hath burnt my heart outright,One moon opposed my love in darkness throws.One star hath bid my thoughts my wrongs disclose.Saints scorn poor swains, shrines do my vows no right.Yet if my love be found a holy fire,Pure, unstained, without idolatry,And she nathless in hate of my desire,Lives to repose her in my misery,My sun, my moon, my star, my saint, my shrine,Mine be the torment but the guilt be thine!

To live in hell, and heaven to behold;To welcome life, and die a living death;To sweat with heat, and yet be freezing cold;To grasp at stars, and lie the earth beneath;To treat a maze that never shall have end;To burn in sighs, and starve in daily tears;To climb a hill, and never to descend;Giants to kill, and quake at childish fears;To pine for food, and watch th' Hesperian tree;To thirst for drink, and nectar still to draw;To live accurs'd whom men hold blest to be,And weep those wrongs which never creature saw:If this be love, if love in these be founded,My heart is love, for these in it are grounded.

A carver, having loved too long in vain,Hewed out the portraiture of Venus' sonIn marble rock, upon the which did rainSmall drizzling drops, that from a fount did run:Imagining the drops would either wearHis fury out, or quench his living flame;But when he saw it bootless did appear,He swore the water did augment the same.So I, that seek in verse to carve thee out,Hoping thy beauty will my flame allay,Viewing my verse and poems all throughout,Find my will rather to my love obey,That with the carver I my work do blame,Finding it still th' augmenter of my flame.

Astronomers the heavens do divideInto eight houses, where the god remains;All which in thy perfections do abide.For in thy feet, the queen of silence reigns;About thy waist Jove's messenger doth dwell,Inchanting me as I thereat admire;And on thy dugs the queen of love doth tellHer godhead's power in scrolls of my desire;Thy beauty is the world's eternal sun;Thy favours force a coward's heart to dare,And in thy hairs Jove and his riches won.Thy frowns hold Saturn; thine's the fixed stars.Pardon me then, divine, to love thee well,Since thou art heaven, and I in heaven would dwell!

Weary of love, my thoughts of love complained,Till reason told them there was no such power,And bade me view fair beauty's richest flower,To see if there a naked boy remained.Dear, to thine eyes, eyes that my soul hath pained,Thoughts turned them back in that unhappy hourTo see if love kept there his royal bower,For if not there, then no place him contained.There was he not, nor boy, nor golden bow;Yet as thou turned thy chaste fair eye aside,A flame of fire did from thine eyelids go,Which burnt my heart through my sore wounded side;Then with a sigh, reason made thoughts to cry,"There is no god of love, save that thine eye!"

Forgive me, dear, for thundering on thy name;Sure 'tis thyself that shows my love distrest.For fire exhaled in freezing clouds possessed,Warring for way, makes all the heavens exclaim.Thy beauty so, the brightest living flame,Wrapt in my cloudy heart, by winter prest,Scorning to dwell within so base a nest,Thunders in me thy everlasting flame.O that my heart might still contain that fire!Or that the fire would always light my heart!Then should'st thou not disdain my true desire,Or think I wronged thee to reveal to my smart;For as the fire through freezing clouds doth break,So not myself but thou in me would'st speak.

My heart mine eye accuseth of his death,Saying his wanton sight bred his unrest;Mine eye affirms my heart's unconstant faithHath been his bane, and all his joys repressed.My heart avows mine eye let in the fire,Which burns him with an everliving light.Mine eye replies my greedy heart's desireLet in those floods, which drown him day and night.Thus wars my heart which reason doth maintain,And calls my eye to combat if he dare,The whilst my soul impatient of disdain,Wrings from his bondage unto death more near;Save that my love still holdeth him in hand;A kingdom thus divided cannot stand!

Unhappy day, unhappy month and season,When first proud love, my joys away adjourning,Poured into mine eye to her eye turningA deadly juice, unto my green thought's reason.Prisoner I am unto the eye I gaze on;Eternally my love's flame is in burning;A mortal shaft still wounds me in my mourning;Thus prisoned, burnt and slain, the spirit, soul and reason.What tides me then since these pains which annoy me,In my despair are evermore increasing?The more I love, less is my pain's releasing;That cursed be the fortune which destroys me,The hour, the month, the season, and the cause,When love first made me thrall to lovers' laws.

Love hath I followed all too long, nought gaining;And sighed I have in vain to sweet what smarteth,But from his brow a fiery arrow parteth,Thinking that I should him resist not plaining.But cowardly my heart submiss remaining,Yields to receive what shaft thy fair eye darteth.Well do I see thine eye my bale imparteth,And that save death no hope I am detaining.For what is he can alter fortune's sliding?One in his bed consumes his life away,Other in wars, another in the sea;The like effects in me have their abiding;For heavens avowed my fortune should be such,That I should die by loving far too much.

My God, my God, how much I love my goddess,Whose virtues rare, unto the heavens arise!My God, my God, how much I love her eyesOne shining bright, the other full of hardness!My God, my God, how much I love her wisdom,Whose works may ravish heaven's richest maker!Of whose eyes' joys if I might be partakerThen to my soul a holy rest would come.My God, how much I love to hear her speak!Whose hands I kiss and ravished oft rekisseth,When she stands wotless whom so much she blesseth.Say then, what mind this honest love would break;Since her perfections pure, withouten blot,Makes her beloved of thee, she knoweth not?

Words in this poem 26

dight v. t.: To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
outright adv.: Immediately; without delay; at once; as, he was killed outright.
nathless adv.: Nevertheless. Chaucer. Milton. E. Arnold. [OE. natheles, na the les, not the less, AS. na never. See Na, The, conj., and cf. Nevertheless.]
maze n.: A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
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,]
hesperian a.: Western; being in the west; occidental. [L. hesperius, fr. hesperus the evening star, Gr. Vesper.]
carver n.: One who carves; one who shapes or fashions by carving, or as by carving; esp. one who carves decorative forms, architectural adornments, etc.
portraiture n.: A portrait; a likeness; a painted resemblance; hence, that which is copied from some example or model. [F. portraiture.]
bootless a.: Unavailing; unprofitable; useless; without advantage or success. [From Boot profit.]
augmenter n.: One who, or that which, augments or increases anything.
dwell v. i.: To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
thereat adv.: At that place; there.
admire v. t.: To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
jove n.: The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
bade: A form of the pat tense of Bid.
thundering a.: Emitting thunder.
prest a.: Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
unrest n.: Want of rest or repose; unquietness; sleeplessness; uneasiness; disquietude.
unconstant a.: Not constant; inconstant; fickle; changeable.
bane v. t.: To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
everliving a.: Living always; immoral; eternal; as, the everliving God.
eternally adv.: In an eternal manner.
evermore adv.: During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
cursed a.: Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
plaining a.: Complaining. Bryant.
submiss a.: Submissive; humble; obsequious. [L. submissus, p.p. of submittere to let down, to lower. See Submit.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Sixth 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 Sixth Decade, in Delia, with Constable's Diana (1592), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18842, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/daniel-delia/the-sixth-decade.html, id L02789.

Form and metre

The Sixth Decade is 140 lines in 10 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 90%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.3 syllables. 40 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% 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 light^A · woes^B · shows^A · dight^B · outright^C · throws^D · disclose^C · right^D · fire^E · idolatry^F · desire^E · misery^F · shrine^G · thine^G
2 ABABCDCDEFEFGG behold^A · death^B · cold^A · beneath^B · end^C · tears^D · descend^C · fears^D · tree^E · draw^F · be^E · saw^F · founded^G · grounded^G
3 ABABCDCDEFEFGG vain^A · son^B · rain^A · run^B · wear^C · flame^D · appear^C · same^D · out^E · allay^F · throughout^E · obey^F · blame^G · flame^G
4 ABABCDCDEFEFGG divide^A · remains^B · abide^A · reigns^B · dwell^C · admire^D · tell^C · desire^D · sun^E · dare^F · won^E · stars^F · well^G · dwell^G
5 ABABCDCDEFEFGG complained^A · power^B · flower^A · remained^B · pained^C · hour^D · bower^C · contained^D · bow^E · aside^F · go^E · side^F · cry^G · eye^G
6 ABABCDCDEFEFGG name^A · distrest^B · possessed^A · exclaim^B · flame^C · prest^D · nest^C · flame^D · fire^E · heart^F · desire^E · smart^F · break^G · speak^G
7 ABABCDCDEFEFGG death^A · unrest^B · faith^A · repressed^B · fire^C · light^D · desire^C · night^D · maintain^E · dare^F · disdain^E · near^F · hand^G · stand^G
8 ABABCDCDEFEFGG season^A · adjourning^B · turning^A · reason^B · on^C · burning^D · mourning^C · reason^D · me^E · increasing^F · releasing^E · me^F · cause^G · laws^G
9 ABABCDCDEFEFGG gaining^A · smarteth^B · parteth^A · plaining^B · remaining^C · darteth^D · imparteth^C · detaining^D · sliding^E · away^F · sea^E · abiding^F · such^G · much^G
10 ABABCDCDEFEFGG goddess^A · arise^B · eyes^A · hardness^B · wisdom^C · maker^D · partaker^C · come^D · speak^E · rekisseth^F · blesseth^E · break^F · blot^G · not^G

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
One sun unto my life's day gives true light.	10	··········
One moon dissolves my stormy night of woes.	10	··˘/·/˘···
One star my fate and happy fortune shows.	10	·····/˘/˘·
One saint I serve, one shrine with vows I dight.	10	··········
One sun transfix'd hath burnt my heart outright,	10	··˘/····//
One moon opposed my love in darkness throws.	10	··˘/···/˘·
One star hath bid my thoughts my wrongs disclose.	10	········˘/
Saints scorn poor swains, shrines do my vows no right.	10	··········
Yet if my love be found a holy fire,	11	·······/˘/˘
Pure, unstained, without idolatry,	10	·˘/˘··˘/˘˘
And she nathless in hate of my desire,	11	··/˘····˘/˘
Lives to repose her in my misery,	10	··˘/···/˘˘
My sun, my moon, my star, my saint, my shrine,	10	··········
Mine be the torment but the guilt be thine!	10	···/······
To live in hell, and heaven to behold;	10	·····/˘·˘/
To welcome life, and die a living death;	10	·/˘····/˘·
To sweat with heat, and yet be freezing cold;	10	·······/˘·
To grasp at stars, and lie the earth beneath;	10	··········
To treat a maze that never shall have end;	10	·····/˘···
To burn in sighs, and starve in daily tears;	10	·······/˘·
To climb a hill, and never to descend;	10	·····/˘·˘/
Giants to kill, and quake at childish fears;	10	/˘·····/˘·
To pine for food, and watch th' Hesperian tree;	11	······˘/˘˘·
To thirst for drink, and nectar still to draw;	10	·····/˘···
To live accurs'd whom men hold blest to be,	10	··········
And weep those wrongs which never creature saw:	10	·····/˘/˘·
If this be love, if love in these be founded,	11	·········/˘
My heart is love, for these in it are grounded.	11	·········/˘
A carver, having loved too long in vain,	10	·/˘/˘·····
Hewed out the portraiture of Venus' son	10	···/˘˘·/˘·
In marble rock, upon the which did rain	10	·/˘·······
Small drizzling drops, that from a fount did run:	10	·/˘·······
Imagining the drops would either wear	10	˘/˘˘···/˘·
His fury out, or quench his living flame;	10	·/˘····/˘·
But when he saw it bootless did appear,	10	·····/˘·˘/
He swore the water did augment the same.	10	···/˘·˘/··
So I, that seek in verse to carve thee out,	10	··········
Hoping thy beauty will my flame allay,	10	/˘·/˘···˘/
Viewing my verse and poems all throughout,	10	/˘···/˘···
Find my will rather to my love obey,	10	···/˘···˘/
That with the carver I my work do blame,	10	···/˘·····
Finding it still th' augmenter of my flame.	10	/˘··˘/˘···
Astronomers the heavens do divide	10	˘/˘˘·/˘·˘/
Into eight houses, where the god remains;	10	···/˘···˘/
All which in thy perfections do abide.	10	····˘/˘·˘/
For in thy feet, the queen of silence reigns;	10	·······/˘·
About thy waist Jove's messenger doth dwell,	10	·····/˘˘··
Inchanting me as I thereat admire;	10	······˘/˘/
And on thy dugs the queen of love doth tell	10	··········
Her godhead's power in scrolls of my desire;	11	·/·/····˘/˘
Thy beauty is the world's eternal sun;	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
Thy favours force a coward's heart to dare,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And in thy hairs Jove and his riches won.	10	·······/˘·
Thy frowns hold Saturn; thine's the fixed stars.	10	···/˘···˘·
Pardon me then, divine, to love thee well,	10	/˘··˘/····
Since thou art heaven, and I in heaven would dwell!	10	···/···/··
Weary of love, my thoughts of love complained,	10	/˘······˘/
Till reason told them there was no such power,	11	·/˘······/˘
And bade me view fair beauty's richest flower,	11	·····/˘/˘/˘
To see if there a naked boy remained.	10	·····/˘·˘/
Dear, to thine eyes, eyes that my soul hath pained,	10	··········
Thoughts turned them back in that unhappy hour	11	······˘/˘/˘
To see if love kept there his royal bower,	11	·······/˘/˘
For if not there, then no place him contained.	10	········˘/
There was he not, nor boy, nor golden bow;	10	·······/˘·
Yet as thou turned thy chaste fair eye aside,	10	········˘/
A flame of fire did from thine eyelids go,	10	···/···/··
Which burnt my heart through my sore wounded side;	10	·······/˘·
Then with a sigh, reason made thoughts to cry,	10	····/˘····
"There is no god of love, save that thine eye!"	10	··········
Forgive me, dear, for thundering on thy name;	10	˘/···/˘···
Sure 'tis thyself that shows my love distrest.	10	··˘/······
For fire exhaled in freezing clouds possessed,	10	·/˘/·/˘·˘/
Warring for way, makes all the heavens exclaim.	11	/˘·····/˘˘/
Thy beauty so, the brightest living flame,	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
Wrapt in my cloudy heart, by winter prest,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Scorning to dwell within so base a nest,	10	/˘········
Thunders in me thy everlasting flame.	10	/˘····˘/˘·
O that my heart might still contain that fire!	11	······˘/·/˘
Or that the fire would always light my heart!	10	···/·/····
Then should'st thou not disdain my true desire,	11	····˘/··˘/˘
Or think I wronged thee to reveal to my smart;	11	······˘/···
For as the fire through freezing clouds doth break,	10	···/·/˘···
So not myself but thou in me would'st speak.	10	···/······
My heart mine eye accuseth of his death,	10	····˘/˘···
Saying his wanton sight bred his unrest;	10	/˘·/˘···˘/
Mine eye affirms my heart's unconstant faith	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
Hath been his bane, and all his joys repressed.	10	········˘/
My heart avows mine eye let in the fire,	11	··˘/·····/˘
Which burns him with an everliving light.	10	··········
Mine eye replies my greedy heart's desire	11	··˘/·/˘·˘/˘
Let in those floods, which drown him day and night.	10	··········
Thus wars my heart which reason doth maintain,	10	·····/˘·˘/
And calls my eye to combat if he dare,	10	·····/˘···
The whilst my soul impatient of disdain,	10	····˘/˘·˘/
Wrings from his bondage unto death more near;	10	···/˘·····
Save that my love still holdeth him in hand;	10	·····/˘···
A kingdom thus divided cannot stand!	10	·/˘·˘/˘/˘·
Unhappy day, unhappy month and season,	11	˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘
When first proud love, my joys away adjourning,	11	······˘/˘/˘
Poured into mine eye to her eye turning	10	········/˘
A deadly juice, unto my green thought's reason.	11	·/˘······/˘
Prisoner I am unto the eye I gaze on;	11	/˘·········
Eternally my love's flame is in burning;	11	˘/˘˘·····/˘
A mortal shaft still wounds me in my mourning;	11	·/˘······/˘
Thus prisoned, burnt and slain, the spirit, soul and reason.	12	·/˘····/··/˘
What tides me then since these pains which annoy me,	11	········˘/·
In my despair are evermore increasing?	11	··˘/·/˘·˘/˘
The more I love, less is my pain's releasing;	11	········˘/˘
That cursed be the fortune which destroys me,	10	····/˘·˘/·
The hour, the month, the season, and the cause,	10	·/···/˘···
When love first made me thrall to lovers' laws.	10	·······/˘·
Love hath I followed all too long, nought gaining;	11	···/˘····/˘
And sighed I have in vain to sweet what smarteth,	11	·········/˘
But from his brow a fiery arrow parteth,	11	·····/˘/˘/˘
Thinking that I should him resist not plaining.	11	/˘····˘/·/˘
But cowardly my heart submiss remaining,	11	·/˘˘··˘/˘/˘
Yields to receive what shaft thy fair eye darteth.	11	··˘/·····/˘
Well do I see thine eye my bale imparteth,	11	········˘/˘
And that save death no hope I am detaining.	11	········˘/˘
For what is he can alter fortune's sliding?	11	·····/˘/˘/˘
One in his bed consumes his life away,	10	····˘/··˘/
Other in wars, another in the sea;	10	/˘··˘/˘···
The like effects in me have their abiding;	11	··˘/····˘/˘
For heavens avowed my fortune should be such,	11	·/˘˘/·/˘···
That I should die by loving far too much.	10	·····/˘···
My God, my God, how much I love my goddess,	11	·········/˘
Whose virtues rare, unto the heavens arise!	11	·/˘····/˘˘/
My God, my God, how much I love her eyes	10	··········
One shining bright, the other full of hardness!	11	·/˘··/˘··/˘
My God, my God, how much I love her wisdom,	11	·········/˘
Whose works may ravish heaven's richest maker!	11	···/˘/˘/˘/˘
Of whose eyes' joys if I might be partaker	11	········˘/˘
Then to my soul a holy rest would come.	10	·····/˘···
My God, how much I love to hear her speak!	10	··········
Whose hands I kiss and ravished oft rekisseth,	11	···········
When she stands wotless whom so much she blesseth.	11	·········/˘
Say then, what mind this honest love would break;	10	·····/˘···
Since her perfections pure, withouten blot,	10	··˘/˘·˘/˘·
Makes her beloved of thee, she knoweth not?	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.

More by Samuel Daniel

Delia, with Constable's Diana