Esse Quam Videri
The knightly legend of thy shield betraysThe moral of thy life; a forecast wise,And that large honour that deceit defies,Inspired thy fathers in the elder days,Who decked thy scutcheon with that sturdy phrase,TO BE RATHER THAN SEEM. As eve's red skiesSurpass the morning's rosy prophecies,Thy life to that proud boast its answer pays.Scorning thy faith and purpose to defendThe ever-mutable multitude at lastWill hail the power they did not comprehend,--Thy fame will broaden through the centuries;As, storm and billowy tumult overpast,The moon rules calmly o'er the conquered seas.
Words in this poem
- knightly a.
- Of or pertaining to a knight; becoming a knight; chivalrous; as, a knightly combat; a knightly spirit. [AS. cnihtlic boyish.]
- forecast v. t.
- To plan beforehand; to scheme; to project.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- scutcheon n.
- An escutcheon; an emblazoned shield. [Aphetic form of escutcheon.]
- broaden v. t.
- To grow broad; to become broader or wider. [From Broad, a.]
- billowy a.
- Of or pertaining to billows; swelling or swollen into large waves; full of billows or surges; resembling billows.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Esse Quam Videri is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Hay, Esse Quam Videri, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/esse-quam-videri.html, id L21617.
Form and metre
Esse Quam Videri is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCADA. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
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 ABBAABBACDCADA betraysA · wiseB · defiesB · daysA · phraseA · skiesB · propheciesB · paysA · defendC · lastD · comprehendC · centuriesA · overpastD · seasA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The knightly legend of thy shield betrays | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| The moral of thy life; a forecast wise, | 10 | ·/˘····/·· |
| And that large honour that deceit defies, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘/ |
| Inspired thy fathers in the elder days, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Who decked thy scutcheon with that sturdy phrase, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| TO BE RATHER THAN SEEM. As eve's red skies | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| Surpass the morning's rosy prophecies, | 10 | ˘/·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Thy life to that proud boast its answer pays. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Scorning thy faith and purpose to defend | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| The ever-mutable multitude at last | 10 | ·//˘˘/˘··· |
| Will hail the power they did not comprehend,-- | 10 | ···/····˘/ |
| Thy fame will broaden through the centuries; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| As, storm and billowy tumult overpast, | 11 | ···/˘˘/˘··· |
| The moon rules calmly o'er the conquered seas. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
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.