To the Same
Whether Stella's eyes are foundFix'd on earth, or glancing round,If her face with pleasure glow,If she sigh at others' woe,If her easy air expressConscious worth, or soft distress,Stella's eyes, and air, and face,Charm with undiminish'd grace.If on her we see display'dPendent gems, and rich brocade;If her chints with less expenseFlows in easy negligence;Still she lights the conscious flame,Still her charms appear the same;If she strikes the vocal strings,If she's silent, speaks, or sings,If she sit, or if she move,Still we love, and still approve.Vain the casual, transient glance,Which alone can please by chance;Beauty, which depends on art,Changing with the changing heart,Which demands the toilet's aid,Pendent gems and rich brocade.I those charms alone can prize,Which from constant nature rise,Which nor circumstance, nor dress,E'er can make, or more, or less.
Words in this poem
- glancing a.
- Shooting, as light.
- brocade n.
- Silk stuff, woven with gold and silver threads, or ornamented with raised flowers, foliage, etc.; -- also applied to other stuffs thus wrought and enriched. [Sp. brocado (cf. It. broccato, F. brocart), fr. LL. brocare *prick, to figure (textile fabrics), to emboss (linen), to stitch. See Broach.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Same is in the public domain. This text is taken from Dr. Johnson's Works: Life, Poems, and Tales, Volume 1 (The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes, 1825), Project Gutenberg ebook #10835; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Johnson, To the Same, in Poems (1825), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10835, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/johnson-poems/to-the-same.html, id L27142.
Form and metre
To the Same is 28 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, 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.
- 1 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKEELLCC foundA · roundA · glowB · woeB · expressC · distressC · faceD · graceD · display'dE · brocadeE · expenseF · negligenceF · flameG · sameG · stringsH · singsH · moveI · approveI · glanceJ · chanceJ · artK · heartK · aidE · brocadeE · prizeL · riseL · dressC · lessC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whether Stella's eyes are found | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Fix'd on earth, or glancing round, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| If her face with pleasure glow, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| If she sigh at others' woe, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| If her easy air express | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Conscious worth, or soft distress, | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Stella's eyes, and air, and face, | 7 | /˘····· |
| Charm with undiminish'd grace. | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| If on her we see display'd | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Pendent gems, and rich brocade; | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| If her chints with less expense | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Flows in easy negligence; | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Still she lights the conscious flame, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Still her charms appear the same; | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| If she strikes the vocal strings, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| If she's silent, speaks, or sings, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| If she sit, or if she move, | 7 | ······· |
| Still we love, and still approve. | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Vain the casual, transient glance, | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘· |
| Which alone can please by chance; | 7 | ·˘/···· |
| Beauty, which depends on art, | 7 | /˘·˘/·· |
| Changing with the changing heart, | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Which demands the toilet's aid, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Pendent gems and rich brocade. | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| I those charms alone can prize, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Which from constant nature rise, | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Which nor circumstance, nor dress, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| E'er can make, or more, or less. | 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.