Violence Cannot Destroy Her
Yet violence, perhaps the Soule destroyes:As lightning, or the sun-beames dim the sight;Or as a thunder-clap, or cannons' noyse,The power of hearing doth astonish quite.
But high perfection to the Soule it brings,T' encounter things most excellent and high;For, when she views the best and greatest thingsThey do not hurt, but rather cleare her eye,
Besides,--as Homer's gods 'gainst armies stand,--Her subtill forme can through all dangers slide;Bodies are captiue, minds endure no band,"And Will is free, and can no force abide.
Words in this poem
- astonish v. t.
- To stun; to render senseless, as by a blow. [OE. astonien, astunian, astonen, OF. estoner, F. étonner, fr. L. ex out + tonare to thunder, but perhaps influenced by E. stun. See Thunder, Astound, Astony.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Violence Cannot Destroy Her 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, Violence Cannot Destroy Her, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/violence-cannot-destroy-her.html, id L08783.
Form and metre
Violence Cannot Destroy Her is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 1 -A-A destroyes · sightA · noyse · quiteA
- 2 ABAB bringsA · highB · thingsA · eyeB
- 3 ABAB standA · slideB · bandA · abideB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Yet violence, perhaps the Soule destroyes: | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/··˘/ |
| As lightning, or the sun-beames dim the sight; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Or as a thunder-clap, or cannons' noyse, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| The power of hearing doth astonish quite. | 10 | ·/·/˘·˘/˘· |
| But high perfection to the Soule it brings, | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| T' encounter things most excellent and high; | 10 | ·˘/··/˘˘·· |
| For, when she views the best and greatest things | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They do not hurt, but rather cleare her eye, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Besides,--as Homer's gods 'gainst armies stand,-- | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Her subtill forme can through all dangers slide; | 11 | ···/˘···/˘· |
| Bodies are captiue, minds endure no band, | 9 | /˘···˘/·· |
| "And Will is free, and can no force abide. | 10 | ········˘/ |
Notes from the edition 1
A. B. Grosart's notes to the Complete Poems of Sir John Davies (Project Gutenberg #44977).
- Stanza 2, line 4 Thomas Davies and Southey, as before, misread 'the.' G.
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