To the Moneth of May
$E$ ach day of thine, sweet moneth of May,$L$ oue makes a solemne holy-day.$I$ will performe like duty,$S$ ith thou resemblest euery way$A$ stræa, Queen of beauty,
$B$ oth you fresh beauties do pertake,$E$ ither's aspect doth Summer make,$T$ houghts of young Loue awaking;$H$ earts you both doe cause to ake,$A$ nd yet be pleas'd with akeing.
$R$ ight deare art thou, and so is shee,$E$ uen like attractiue sympathy,$G$ aines vnto both like dearenesse;$I$ weene this made Antiquitie$N$ ame thee, sweet May of Maiestie,$A$ s being both like in clearnesse.
Words in this poem
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Moneth of May 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, To the Moneth of May, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/to-the-moneth-of-may.html, id L08798.
Form and metre
To the Moneth of May is 16 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 12% 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 AABAB mayA · dayA · dutyB · wayA · beautyB
- 2 AABAB pertakeA · makeA · awakingB · akeA · akeingB
- 3 --ABBA shee · sympathy · dearenesseA · antiquitieB · maiestieB · clearnesseA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| $E$ ach day of thine, sweet moneth of May, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| $L$ oue makes a solemne holy-day. | 9 | ······/˘· |
| $I$ will performe like duty, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| $S$ ith thou resemblest euery way | 10 | ···˘/˘˘··· |
| $A$ stræa, Queen of beauty, | 6 | ····/˘ |
| $B$ oth you fresh beauties do pertake, | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| $E$ ither's aspect doth Summer make, | 9 | ···/··/˘· |
| $T$ houghts of young Loue awaking; | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| $H$ earts you both doe cause to ake, | 8 | ········ |
| $A$ nd yet be pleas'd with akeing. | 8 | ········ |
| $R$ ight deare art thou, and so is shee, | 9 | ········· |
| $E$ uen like attractiue sympathy, | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| $G$ aines vnto both like dearenesse; | 9 | ········· |
| $I$ weene this made Antiquitie | 8 | ········ |
| $N$ ame thee, sweet May of Maiestie, | 8 | ········ |
| $A$ s being both like in clearnesse. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
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.