Interlude
B. It is well to know what subjects are within the limits of yourpencil; many have failed of success from the want of this self-knowledge.But pray tell me, what is the essential difference between Poetry andProse? is it solely the melody or measure of the language?
B. In what then consists the essential difference between Poetry andProse?
"--She never told her love;But let Concealment, like a worm i' th' bud,Feed on her damask cheek."--
"To Reason I flew, and intreated her aid,Who paused on my case, and each circumstance weigh'd;Then gravely reply'd in return to my prayer,That Hebe was fairest of all that were fair.That's a truth, reply'd I, I've no need to be taught,I came to you, Reason, to find out a fault.If that's all, says Reason, return as you came,To find fault with Hebe would forfeit my name."
B. The monsters in your Botanic Garden, I hope, are of the latter kind?
P. The candid reader must determine.
Words in this poem
- gravely adv.
- In a grave manner.
- hebe n.
- The goddess of youth, daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was believed to have the power of restoring youth and beauty to those who had lost them. [L., fr. Gr. "h`bh youth, "H`bh Hebe.]
- botanic a.
- Of or pertaining to botany; relating to the study of plants; as, a botanical system, arrangement, textbook, expedition. [Cf. F. botanique. See Botany.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Interlude is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Botanic Garden. Part 2, Containing the Loves of the Plants. A Poem. With Philosophical Notes., Project Gutenberg ebook #10671; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Erasmus Darwin, Interlude, in The Botanic Garden, Part II: The Loves of the Plants (1789), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10671, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/darwin-loves-of-plants/interlude.html, id L23540.
Form and metre
Interlude is 19 lines in 6 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See 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.
- 4 AABB--CC aidA · weigh'dA · prayerB · fairB · taught · fault · cameC · nameC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| B. It is well to know what subjects are within the limits of your | 17 | ·······/˘····/˘·· |
| pencil; many have failed of success from the want of this self-knowledge. | 16 | /˘/···˘/······/˘ |
| But pray tell me, what is the essential difference between Poetry and | 17 | ·······˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Prose? is it solely the melody or measure of the language? | 15 | ···/˘·/˘·/˘··/˘ |
| B. In what then consists the essential difference between Poetry and | 17 | ····˘/·˘/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Prose? | 1 | · |
| "--She never told her love; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| But let Concealment, like a worm i' th' bud, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| Feed on her damask cheek."-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| "To Reason I flew, and intreated her aid, | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Who paused on my case, and each circumstance weigh'd; | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| Then gravely reply'd in return to my prayer, | 11 | ·/˘···˘/··· |
| That Hebe was fairest of all that were fair. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That's a truth, reply'd I, I've no need to be taught, | 12 | ············ |
| I came to you, Reason, to find out a fault. | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| If that's all, says Reason, return as you came, | 11 | ····/˘˘/··· |
| To find fault with Hebe would forfeit my name." | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| B. The monsters in your Botanic Garden, I hope, are of the latter kind? | 19 | ··/˘··˘/˘/˘·····/˘· |
| P. The candid reader must determine. | 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.