Why the Soule Is United to the Body
This substance, and this spirit of God's owne making,Is in the body plact, and planted heere;"That both of God, and of the world partaking,"Of all that is, Man might the image beare.
Then other things, which mindlesse bodies be;Last, He made Man, th' horizon 'twixt both kinds,In whom we doe the World's abridgement see.
Besides, this World below did need one wight,Which might thereof distinguish euery part;Make vse thereof, and take therein delight,And order things with industry and art:
Which also God might in His works admire,And here beneath, yeeld Him both praier and praise;As there, aboue, the holy angels quireDoth spread His glory with spirituall layes.
Lastly, the bruite, unreasonable wights,Did want a visible king on them to raigne:And God, Himselfe thus to the World vnites,That so the World might endlesse blisse obtaine.
Words in this poem
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- quire v. i.
- To sing in concert.
- spirituall a.
- Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal; as, a spiritual substance or being. [L. spiritualis: cf. F. spirituel. See Spirit.]
- lastly adv.
- In the last place; in conclusion.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Why the Soule Is United to the Body 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, Why the Soule Is United to the Body, in The Complete Poems, Volume I (1596–1599), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44977, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/davies-poems/why-the-soule-is-united-to-the-body.html, id L08747.
Form and metre
Why the Soule Is United to the Body is 19 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% 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 ABAB makingA · heereB · partakingA · beareB
- 2 A-A beA · kinds · seeA
- 3 ABAB wightA · partB · delightA · artB
- 4 ABAB admireA · praiseB · quireA · layesB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| This substance, and this spirit of God's owne making, | 11 | ·/˘··/···/˘ |
| Is in the body plact, and planted heere; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| "That both of God, and of the world partaking, | 11 | ········˘/˘ |
| "Of all that is, Man might the image beare. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then other things, which mindlesse bodies be; | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Last, He made Man, th' horizon 'twixt both kinds, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| In whom we doe the World's abridgement see. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Besides, this World below did need one wight, | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Which might thereof distinguish euery part; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Make vse thereof, and take therein delight, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| And order things with industry and art: | 10 | ·/˘··/˘˘·· |
| Which also God might in His works admire, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And here beneath, yeeld Him both praier and praise; | 10 | ·········· |
| As there, aboue, the holy angels quire | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Doth spread His glory with spirituall layes. | 10 | ···/˘·/˘˘· |
| Lastly, the bruite, unreasonable wights, | 9 | /˘··˘/˘˘· |
| Did want a visible king on them to raigne: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And God, Himselfe thus to the World vnites, | 9 | ········· |
| That so the World might endlesse blisse obtaine. | 10 | ·········· |
Notes from the edition 3
A. B. Grosart's notes to the Complete Poems of Sir John Davies (Project Gutenberg #44977).
- Stanza 2, line 3 One of Heylin's numerous books is called 'Microcosmus:' a little Description of the great World. Oxon: 1st edn., 1622. The word is met with in other old title-pages and in theological (Puritan) writings. G.
- Stanza 4, line 4 Davies and Southey, as before, insert 'forth' here. G.
- Stanza 5, line 2 Davies and Southey, as before, substitute 'o'er:' but 'on' is the Poet's own word here and elsewhere. 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.