Amour 15
Subdue thys Tyrant euer martyring mee;And but appoint me for her Tormentor,Then for a Monarch will I honour thee.My hart shall be the prison for my fayre;Ile fetter her in chaines of purest loue,My sighs shall stop the passage of the ayre:This punishment the pittilesse may moue.With teares out of the Channels of mine eyesShe'st quench her thirst as duly as they fall:Kinde words vnkindest meate I can deuise,My sweet, my faire, my good, my best of all.Ile binde her then with my torne-tressed haire,And racke her with a thousand holy wishes;Then, on a place prepared for her there,Ile execute her with a thousand kisses.Thus will I crucifie, my cruell shee;Thus Ile plague her which hath so plagued mee.
Words in this poem
- tormentor n.
- One who, or that which, torments; one who inflicts penal anguish or tortures. Jer. Taylor.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- tressed a.
- Having tresses.
- cruell a.
- Disposed to give pain to others; willing or pleased to hurt, torment, or afflict; destitute of sympathetic kindness and pity; savage; inhuman; hard-hearted; merciless. [F. cruel, fr. L. crudelis, fr. crudus. See Crude.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Amour 15 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Minor Poems of Michael Drayton, Project Gutenberg ebook #17873; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Michael Drayton, Amour 15, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/amour-15.html, id L20556.
Form and metre
Amour 15 is 17 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%).
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-ABCBC-D-DB-B-AA meeA · tormentor · theeA · fayreB · loueC · ayreB · moueC · eyes · fallD · deuise · allD · haireB · wishes · thereB · kisses · sheeA · meeA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Subdue thys Tyrant euer martyring mee; | 10 | ˘/·/˘·/˘˘· |
| And but appoint me for her Tormentor, | 10 | ··˘/···/·˘ |
| Then for a Monarch will I honour thee. | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| My hart shall be the prison for my fayre; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Ile fetter her in chaines of purest loue, | 11 | ··/˘····/˘· |
| My sighs shall stop the passage of the ayre: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| This punishment the pittilesse may moue. | 10 | ·/˘˘······ |
| With teares out of the Channels of mine eyes | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| She'st quench her thirst as duly as they fall: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Kinde words vnkindest meate I can deuise, | 8 | ········ |
| My sweet, my faire, my good, my best of all. | 10 | ·········· |
| Ile binde her then with my torne-tressed haire, | 10 | ·········· |
| And racke her with a thousand holy wishes; | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| Then, on a place prepared for her there, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Ile execute her with a thousand kisses. | 12 | ··/˘····/˘/˘ |
| Thus will I crucifie, my cruell shee; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thus Ile plague her which hath so plagued mee. | 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.