Si Parva Licet Componere Magnis
IN the bowl of a shellSings the wonderful song of the sea,All the ebb and the swell,In the bowl of a shell.
In the heart of a poolDrifts the fathomless smile of the sky,All the clouds white and cool,In the heart of a pool.
In the beam of a starShines the light of a far away world,Out of space, dim and far,In the beam of a star.
In the cup of a roseDwells the languor and passion of June,Eager life, warm repose,In the cup of a rose.
In the throat of a birdLives the message of God to His earth,Lo! the mystical wordIn the throat of a bird!
Words in this poem
- fathomless a.
- Incapable of being fathomed; immeasurable; that can not be sounded.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Si Parva Licet Componere Magnis is in the public domain. This text is taken from Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #50591; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Radclyffe Hall, Si Parva Licet Componere Magnis, in Songs of Three Counties, and Other Poems (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #50591, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hall-three-counties/si-parva-licet-componere-magnis.html, id L22697.
Form and metre
Si Parva Licet Componere Magnis is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 50% of the lines. The metre is anapaestic dimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in anapaestic dimeter.
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 A-AA shellA · sea · swellA · shellA
- 2 A-AA poolA · sky · coolA · poolA
- 3 A-AA starA · world · farA · starA
- 4 A-AA roseA · june · reposeA · roseA
- 5 A-AA birdA · earth · wordA · birdA
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 anapaestic dimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| IN the bowl of a shell | 6 | ······ |
| Sings the wonderful song of the sea, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| All the ebb and the swell, | 6 | ······ |
| In the bowl of a shell. | 6 | ······ |
| In the heart of a pool | 6 | ······ |
| Drifts the fathomless smile of the sky, | 9 | ··/˘˘···· |
| All the clouds white and cool, | 6 | ······ |
| In the heart of a pool. | 6 | ······ |
| In the beam of a star | 6 | ······ |
| Shines the light of a far away world, | 9 | ······˘/· |
| Out of space, dim and far, | 6 | ······ |
| In the beam of a star. | 6 | ······ |
| In the cup of a rose | 6 | ······ |
| Dwells the languor and passion of June, | 9 | ··/˘·/˘·· |
| Eager life, warm repose, | 6 | /˘··˘/ |
| In the cup of a rose. | 6 | ······ |
| In the throat of a bird | 6 | ······ |
| Lives the message of God to His earth, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| Lo! the mystical word | 6 | ··/˘˘· |
| In the throat of a bird! | 6 | ······ |
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.