Amour 17
If euer wonder could report a wonder,Or tongue of wonder worth could tell a wonder thought,Or euer ioy expresse what perfect ioy hath taught,Then wonder, tongue, then ioy, might wel report a wonder.Could all conceite conclude, which past conceit admireth,Or could mine eye but ayme her obiects past perfection,My words might imitate my deerest thoughts direction,And my soule then obtaine which so my soule desireth.Were not Inuention stauld, treading Inuentions maze,Or my swift-winged Muse tyred by too hie flying;Did not perfection still on her perfection gaze,Whilst Loue (my Phoenix bird) in her owne flame is dying,Inuention and my Muse, perfection and her loue,Should teach the world to know the wonder that I proue.
Words in this poem
- conclude v. t.
- To shut up; to inclose. [L. concludere, conclusum; con- + claudere to shut. See Close, v. t.]
- ayme n.
- The utterance of the ejaculation [Cf. F. ahi interj.]
- maze n.
- A wild fancy; a confused notion. [OE. mase; cf. OE. masen to confuse, puzzle, Norweg. masast to fall into a slumber, masa to be continually busy, prate, chatter, Icel. masa to chatter, dial. Sw.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Amour 17 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 17, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/amour-17.html, id L20558.
Form and metre
Amour 17 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic hexameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic hexameter.
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 ABBA-CC-DEDEFF wonderA · thoughtB · taughtB · wonderA · admireth · perfectionC · directionC · desireth · mazeD · flyingE · gazeD · dyingE · loueF · proueF
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 hexameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| If euer wonder could report a wonder, | 10 | ··/˘·˘/·/˘ |
| Or tongue of wonder worth could tell a wonder thought, | 12 | ···/˘····/˘· |
| Or euer ioy expresse what perfect ioy hath taught, | 11 | ······˘/··· |
| Then wonder, tongue, then ioy, might wel report a wonder. | 13 | ·/˘·····˘/·/˘ |
| Could all conceite conclude, which past conceit admireth, | 13 | ····˘/··˘/˘/˘ |
| Or could mine eye but ayme her obiects past perfection, | 14 | ·····/˘····˘/˘ |
| My words might imitate my deerest thoughts direction, | 13 | ···/˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| And my soule then obtaine which so my soule desireth. | 13 | ··········˘/˘ |
| Were not Inuention stauld, treading Inuentions maze, | 12 | ······/˘···· |
| Or my swift-winged Muse tyred by too hie flying; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Did not perfection still on her perfection gaze, | 12 | ··˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| Whilst Loue (my Phoenix bird) in her owne flame is dying, | 13 | ···/˘······/˘ |
| Inuention and my Muse, perfection and her loue, | 12 | ······˘/˘··· |
| Should teach the world to know the wonder that I proue. | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
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.