Of the Organs of Her Minde
$E$ clipsed she is, and her bright rayes.$L$ ie under vailes, yet many wayes$I$ s her faire forme reuealed;$S$ he diuersly her selfe conueyes,$A$ nd cannot be concealed.
$B$ y instruments her powers appeare$E$ xceedingly well tun'd and cleare:$T$ his lute is still in measure,$H$ olds still in tune, euen like a spheare,$A$ nd yeelds the world sweet pleasure.
$R$ esolue me, Muse, how this thing is,$E$ uer a body like to this$G$ aue Heau'n to earthly creature?$I$ am but fond this doubt to make$N$ o doubt the angels bodies take,$A$ bove our common nature.
About this text
Of the Organs of Her Minde is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poems of Sir John Davies. Volume 1 of 2., Project Gutenberg ebook #44977; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Davies, Of the Organs of Her Minde, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/of-the-organs-of-her-minde.html, id L08813.
Form and metre
Of the Organs of Her Minde is 16 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic tetrameter.
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 AAB-B rayesA · wayesA · reuealedB · conueyes · concealedB
- 2 AABAB appeareA · cleareA · measureB · spheareA · pleasureB
- 3 ---AA- is · this · creature · makeA · takeA · nature
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| $E$ clipsed she is, and her bright rayes. | 9 | ··˘······ |
| $L$ ie under vailes, yet many wayes | 9 | ······/˘· |
| $I$ s her faire forme reuealed; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| $S$ he diuersly her selfe conueyes, | 7 | ······· |
| $A$ nd cannot be concealed. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| $B$ y instruments her powers appeare | 10 | ··/˘˘·/˘·· |
| $E$ xceedingly well tun'd and cleare: | 8 | ········ |
| $T$ his lute is still in measure, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| $H$ olds still in tune, euen like a spheare, | 9 | ········· |
| $A$ nd yeelds the world sweet pleasure. | 8 | ······/˘ |
| $R$ esolue me, Muse, how this thing is, | 9 | ········· |
| $E$ uer a body like to this | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| $G$ aue Heau'n to earthly creature? | 8 | ····/˘/˘ |
| $I$ am but fond this doubt to make | 8 | ········ |
| $N$ o doubt the angels bodies take, | 9 | ····/˘/˘· |
| $A$ bove our common nature. | 8 | ··/˘/˘/˘ |
Notes from the edition 1
A. B. Grosart's notes to the Complete Poems of Sir John Davies (Project Gutenberg #44977).
- Stanza 3, line 4 = Foolish. G.
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.