Of Watchfulness over the Senses
FRIEND, beware lest thou fall:Beware!
First, beware thy ghostly foe,Who in friend's disguise doth go,Trust him not, he brings thee woe:Beware!
Turn thine Eyes away from ill,Evil sights may wound thy will ;Healing hurt thee deeper still:Beware!
Evil tongues a snare will set ;Stop thine Ears: nay, closer yet!Lest they catch thee in a net:Beware!
Put a bridle on thy Taste:Plenty turns to poisonous waste,Then comes Luxury in haste:Beware!
Scents and savours perilous,Fragrances insidious—God hath set them far from us:Beware!
God is grieved by sinful Touch;Set thy guard and keep thy watchThou may'st perish in its clutchBeware!
From thy kindred dwell apart,Lest they shake thy steadfast heart,Lest they cause thee dole and smart ;Beware!
Watch! thy friends will throng around,Run like ants, like ants abound,Dry thy roots in God's own ground:Beware!
O beware! lest evil thoughtWound and bring thy mind to naught;Sicken all thy soul distraught:Beware!
Words in this poem
- beware v. t.
- To avoid; to take care of; to have a care for.
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- closer n.
- One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
- insidious a.
- Lying in wait; watching an opportunity to insnare or entrap; deceitful; sly; treacherous; -- said of persons; as, the insidious foe. [L. insidiosus, fr. insidiae an ambush, fr. insidere to sit in; pref. in- + sedere to sit: cf. F. insidieux. See Sit.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- sicken v. t.
- To make sick; to disease.
- distraught p. p.
- Torn asunder; separated. [OE. distract, distrauht. See Distract, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Of Watchfulness over the Senses is in the public domain. This text is taken from Jacopone da Todi, Poet and Mystic, 1228-1306: A Spiritual Biography, with a Selection from the Spiritual Songs, Internet Archive, the Mrs. Theodore Beck 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: Jacopone da Todi, Of Watchfulness over the Senses, in The Lauds (1919), text of Internet Archive, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jacopone-lauds/of-watchfulness-over-the-senses.html, id L27087.
Form and metre
Of Watchfulness over the Senses is 38 lines in 10 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
See other poems in trochaic 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.
- 2 AAA- foeA · goA · woeA · beware
- 3 AAA- illA · willA · stillA · beware
- 4 AAA- setA · yetA · netA · beware
- 5 AAA- tasteA · wasteA · hasteA · beware
- 6 AAA- perilousA · insidiousA · usA · beware
- 7 A-A- touchA · watch · clutchA · beware
- 8 AAA- apartA · heartA · smartA · beware
- 9 AAA- aroundA · aboundA · groundA · beware
- 10 AAA- thoughtA · naughtA · distraughtA · beware
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| FRIEND, beware lest thou fall: | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| First, beware thy ghostly foe, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Who in friend's disguise doth go, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Trust him not, he brings thee woe: | 7 | ······· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| Turn thine Eyes away from ill, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Evil sights may wound thy will ; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Healing hurt thee deeper still: | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| Evil tongues a snare will set ; | 7 | /˘····· |
| Stop thine Ears: nay, closer yet! | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Lest they catch thee in a net: | 7 | ······· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| Put a bridle on thy Taste: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Plenty turns to poisonous waste, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Then comes Luxury in haste: | 7 | ··/˘˘·· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| Scents and savours perilous, | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Fragrances insidious— | 7 | /˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| God hath set them far from us: | 7 | ······· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| God is grieved by sinful Touch; | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Set thy guard and keep thy watch | 7 | ······· |
| Thou may'st perish in its clutch | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| From thy kindred dwell apart, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Lest they shake thy steadfast heart, | 7 | ····/·· |
| Lest they cause thee dole and smart ; | 7 | ······· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| Watch! thy friends will throng around, | 7 | ······· |
| Run like ants, like ants abound, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Dry thy roots in God's own ground: | 7 | ······· |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
| O beware! lest evil thought | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Wound and bring thy mind to naught; | 7 | ······· |
| Sicken all thy soul distraught: | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Beware! | 2 | ˘/ |
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.