For the 14Th of February
No popular respect will I omitTo do thee honor on this happy day,When every loyal lover tasks his witHis simple truth in studious rhymes to pay,And to his mistress dear his hopes convey.Rather thou knowest I would still outrunAll calendars with Love's,--whose date alwayThy bright eyes govern better than the Sun,--For with thy favor was my life begun;And still I reckon on from smiles to smiles,And not by summers, for I thrive on noneBut those thy cheerful countenance complies:Oh! if it be to choose and call thee mine,Love, thou art every day my Valentine.
Words in this poem
- outrun v. t.
- To exceed, or leave behind, in running; to run faster than; to outstrip; to go beyond.
- valentine n.
- A sweetheart chosen on St. Valentine's Day.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
For the 14Th of February is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood, Project Gutenberg ebook #15652; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Hood, For the 14Th of February, in The Song of the Shirt, and Other Poems (1826–1845), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #15652, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hood-poetical-works/for-the-14th-of-february.html, id L20089.
Form and metre
For the 14Th of February is 14 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 ABABBC-CC-C-DD omitA · dayB · witA · payB · conveyB · outrunC · alway · sunC · begunC · smiles · noneC · complies · mineD · valentineD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No popular respect will I omit | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/··˘/ |
| To do thee honor on this happy day, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| When every loyal lover tasks his wit | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| His simple truth in studious rhymes to pay, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| And to his mistress dear his hopes convey. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Rather thou knowest I would still outrun | 10 | /˘·/˘···˘/ |
| All calendars with Love's,--whose date alway | 10 | ·/˘˘····/˘ |
| Thy bright eyes govern better than the Sun,-- | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| For with thy favor was my life begun; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| And still I reckon on from smiles to smiles, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And not by summers, for I thrive on none | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But those thy cheerful countenance complies: | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘˘/ |
| Oh! if it be to choose and call thee mine, | 10 | ·········· |
| Love, thou art every day my Valentine. | 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.