To Iris, in Bow Street, Convent Garden
SAY, cruel IRIS, pretty rake,Dear mercenary beauty,What annual offering shall I make,Expressive of my duty?
My heart, a victim to thine eyes,Should I at once deliver,Say, would the angry fair one prizeThe gift, who slights the giver?
A bill, a jewel, watch, or toy,My rivals give—and let ’em;If gems, or gold, impart a joy,I’ll give them—when I get ’em.
I’ll give—but not the full-blown rose,Or rose-bud more in fashion;Such short-liv’d offerings but discloseA transitory passion.
I’ll give thee something yet unpaid,Not less sincere, than civil:I’ll give thee—Ah! too charming maid,I’ll give thee—To the devil.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- giver n.
- One who gives; a donor; a bestower; a grantor; one who imparts or distributes.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Iris, in Bow Street, Convent Garden is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith, Project Gutenberg ebook #3545; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Oliver Goldsmith, To Iris, in Bow Street, Convent Garden, in Poems (1764–1774), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #3545, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/goldsmith-poems/to-iris-in-bow-street-convent-garden.html, id L00423.
Form and metre
To Iris, in Bow Street, Convent Garden is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.7 syllables. 8 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% 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 rakeA · beautyB · makeA · dutyB
- 2 ABAB eyesA · deliverB · prizeA · giverB
- 3 ABAB toyA · emB · joyA · emB
- 4 ABAB roseA · fashionB · discloseA · passionB
- 5 A-A- unpaidA · civil · maidA · devil
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SAY, cruel IRIS, pretty rake, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Dear mercenary beauty, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| What annual offering shall I make, | 10 | ·/˘˘/˘˘··· |
| Expressive of my duty? | 7 | ˘/˘··/˘ |
| My heart, a victim to thine eyes, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Should I at once deliver, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Say, would the angry fair one prize | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The gift, who slights the giver? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| A bill, a jewel, watch, or toy, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My rivals give—and let ’em; | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| If gems, or gold, impart a joy, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| I’ll give them—when I get ’em. | 7 | ······· |
| I’ll give—but not the full-blown rose, | 8 | ········ |
| Or rose-bud more in fashion; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Such short-liv’d offerings but disclose | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| A transitory passion. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| I’ll give thee something yet unpaid, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Not less sincere, than civil: | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| I’ll give thee—Ah! too charming maid, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I’ll give thee—To the devil. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.