To the Same
I will now cease, nor ruffle moreThy beauteous cheek with speech so free;My silent dying shall restoreIts peace, and mutely speak for me.
I have already deeply erredIn saying what were best unsaid,Thy gentle heart I have but stirred,Not staunched a single wound that bled.
Henceforth I heave no fruitless sighs,No tears but unseen tears I shed;The injured heart that silent dies,Has that which speaks in Injury's stead!
Words in this poem
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
- 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,]
- mutely adv.
- Without uttering words or sounds; in a mute manner; silently.
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- fruitless a.
- Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Same is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Garcilasso de la Vega, Project Gutenberg ebook #49410, the J. H. Wiffen translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Garcilaso de la Vega, To the Same, in The Works of Garcilasso de la Vega (1823), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #49410, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/garcilaso-works/to-the-same.html, id L18736.
Form and metre
To the Same is 12 lines in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
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 moreA · freeB · restoreA · meB
- 2 ABAB erredA · unsaidB · stirredA · bledB
- 3 ABAB sighsA · shedB · diesA · steadB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I will now cease, nor ruffle more | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy beauteous cheek with speech so free; | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| My silent dying shall restore | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Its peace, and mutely speak for me. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I have already deeply erred | 9 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘ |
| In saying what were best unsaid, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Thy gentle heart I have but stirred, | 9 | ·/˘·····˘ |
| Not staunched a single wound that bled. | 9 | ··˘·/˘··· |
| Henceforth I heave no fruitless sighs, | 8 | //···/˘· |
| No tears but unseen tears I shed; | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| The injured heart that silent dies, | 9 | ·/˘˘··/˘· |
| Has that which speaks in Injury's stead! | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
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.