To the Lady Rich
Heralds at arms do three perfections quote,To wit, most fair, most rich, most glittering;So when those three concur within one thing,Needs must that thing of honour be a note.Lately I did behold a rich fair coat,Which wished fortune to mine eyes did bring.A lordly coat, yet worthy of a king,In which one might all these perfections note.A field of lilies, roses proper bare;Two stars in chief; the crest was waves of gold.How glittering 'twas, might by the stars appear;The lilies made it fair for to behold.And rich it was as by the gold appeareth;But happy he that in his arms it weareth!
Words in this poem
- concur v. i.
- To run together; to meet. [L. concurrere to run together, agree; con- + currere to run. See Current.]
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Lady Rich 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, To the Lady Rich, in Delia, with Constable's Diana (1592), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #18842, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/daniel-delia/to-the-lady-rich.html, id L02784.
Form and metre
To the Lady Rich is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEFGG, the pattern of the English sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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 quoteA · glitteringB · thingA · noteB · coatC · bringD · kingC · noteD · bareE · goldF · appearE · beholdF · appearethG · wearethG
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heralds at arms do three perfections quote, | 10 | /˘····˘/˘· |
| To wit, most fair, most rich, most glittering; | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| So when those three concur within one thing, | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Needs must that thing of honour be a note. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Lately I did behold a rich fair coat, | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Which wished fortune to mine eyes did bring. | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| A lordly coat, yet worthy of a king, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| In which one might all these perfections note. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| A field of lilies, roses proper bare; | 10 | ···/˘/˘/˘· |
| Two stars in chief; the crest was waves of gold. | 10 | ·········· |
| How glittering 'twas, might by the stars appear; | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The lilies made it fair for to behold. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And rich it was as by the gold appeareth; | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| But happy he that in his arms it weareth! | 11 | ·/˘······/˘ |
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.