Amour 28
Some wits there be which lyke my method well,And say my verse runnes in a lofty vayne;Some say, I haue a passing pleasing straine,Some say that in my humour I excell.Some who reach not the height of my conceite,They say, (as Poets doe) I vse to fayne,And in bare words paynt out my passions payne:Thus sundry men their sundry minds repeate.I passe not I how men affected be,Nor who commend, or discommend my verse;It pleaseth me if I my plaints rehearse,And in my lynes if shee my loue may see.I proue my verse autentique still in thys,Who writes my Mistres praise can neuer write amisse.
Words in this poem
- humour n.
- Moisture, especially, the moisture or fluid of animal bodies, as the chyle, lymph, etc.; as, the humors of the eye, etc. [OE. humour, OF. humor, umor, F. humeur, L. humor, umor, moisture, fluid, fr. humere, umere, to be moist. See Humid.]
- excell v. t.
- To go beyond or surpass in good qualities or laudable deeds; to outdo or outgo, in a good sense. [L. excellere, excelsum; ex out + a root found in culmen height, top; cf. F. exceller. See Culminate, Column.]
- sundry a.
- Several; divers; more than one or two; various. [OE. sundry, sondry, AS. syndrig, fr. sundor asunder. See Sunder, v. t.]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- discommend v. t.
- To mention with disapprobation; to blame; to disapprove.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Amour 28 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 28, in Minor Poems (1594–1619), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17873, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/drayton-minor-poems/amour-28.html, id L20569.
Form and metre
Amour 28 is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 ABBA-BB-CDDC-D wellA · vayneB · straineB · excellA · conceite · fayneB · payneB · repeate · beC · verseD · rehearseD · seeC · thys · amisseD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Some wits there be which lyke my method well, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And say my verse runnes in a lofty vayne; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Some say, I haue a passing pleasing straine, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Some say that in my humour I excell. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Some who reach not the height of my conceite, | 10 | ·········· |
| They say, (as Poets doe) I vse to fayne, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And in bare words paynt out my passions payne: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Thus sundry men their sundry minds repeate. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| I passe not I how men affected be, | 11 | ··/····˘/˘· |
| Nor who commend, or discommend my verse; | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| It pleaseth me if I my plaints rehearse, | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| And in my lynes if shee my loue may see. | 10 | ·········· |
| I proue my verse autentique still in thys, | 10 | ·········· |
| Who writes my Mistres praise can neuer write amisse. | 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.