Amour 16
Vertues Idea in virginitie,By inspiration, came conceau'd with thought:The time is come deliuered she must be,Where first my loue into the world was brought.Vnhappy borne, of all vnhappy day!So luckles was my Babes nativity,Saturne chiefe Lord of the Ascendant lay,The wandring Moone in earths triplicitie.Now, or by chaunce or heauens hie prouidence,His Mother died, and by her Legacie(Fearing the stars presaging influence)Bequeath'd his wardship to my soueraignes eye;Where hunger-staruen, wanting lookes to liue,Still empty gorg'd, with cares consumption pynde,Salt luke-warm teares shee for his drink did giue,And euer-more with sighes he supt and dynde:And thus (poore Orphan) lying in distresseCryes in his pangs, God helpe the motherlesse.
Words in this poem
- ascendant n.
- Ascent; height; elevation. [F. ascendant, L. ascendens; p. pr. of ascendere.]
- wardship n.
- The office of a ward or keeper; care and protection of a ward; guardianship; right of guardianship.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Amour 16 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 16, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/amour-16.html, id L20557.
Form and metre
Amour 16 is 18 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 AB-BC-CA-A--DEDEFF virginitieA · thoughtB · be · broughtB · dayC · nativity · layC · triplicitieA · prouidence · legacieA · influence · eye · liueD · pyndeE · giueD · dyndeE · distresseF · motherlesseF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vertues Idea in virginitie, | 9 | ·˘/˘····· |
| By inspiration, came conceau'd with thought: | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| The time is come deliuered she must be, | 10 | ······˘··· |
| Where first my loue into the world was brought. | 10 | ·········· |
| Vnhappy borne, of all vnhappy day! | 8 | ········ |
| So luckles was my Babes nativity, | 9 | ·····˘/˘˘ |
| Saturne chiefe Lord of the Ascendant lay, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| The wandring Moone in earths triplicitie. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Now, or by chaunce or heauens hie prouidence, | 9 | ········· |
| His Mother died, and by her Legacie | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| (Fearing the stars presaging influence) | 10 | /˘··/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Bequeath'd his wardship to my soueraignes eye; | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Where hunger-staruen, wanting lookes to liue, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Still empty gorg'd, with cares consumption pynde, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Salt luke-warm teares shee for his drink did giue, | 10 | ·········· |
| And euer-more with sighes he supt and dynde: | 9 | ········· |
| And thus (poore Orphan) lying in distresse | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Cryes in his pangs, God helpe the motherlesse. | 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.