The Triumph of Charis
SEE the chariot at hand here of Love,Wherein my lady rideth!Each that draws is a swan or a dove,And well the car Love guideth.As she goes, all hearts do dutyUnto her beauty;And, enamoured, do wish, so they mightBut enjoy such a sight,That they still were to run by her side,Through swords, through seas, whither she would ride.
Do but look on her eyes, they do lightAll that Love’s world compriseth!Do but look on her hair, it is brightAs Love’s star when it riseth!Do but mark, her forehead’s smootherThan words that soothe her!And from her arched brows, such a graceSheds itself through the face,As alone there triumphs to the lifeAll the gain, all the good, of the elements’ strife.
Have you seen but a bright lily growBefore rude hands have touched it?Have you marked but the fall o’ the snowBefore the soil hath smutched it?Have you felt the wool of beaver?Or swan’s down ever?Or have smelt o’ the bud o’ the brier?Or the nard in the fire?Or have tasted the bag of the bee?O so white! O so soft! O so sweet is she!
Words in this poem
- whither adv.
- To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
- smoother n.
- One who, or that which, smooths.
- soothe v. t.
- To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- brier n.
- A plant with a slender woody stem bearing stout prickles; especially, species of Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax. [OE. brere, brer, AS. brer, brær; cf. Ir. briar prickle, thorn, brier, pin, Gael. preas bush, brier, W. prys, prysg.]
- nard n.
- An East Indian plant (Nardostachys Jatamansi) of the Valerian family, used from remote ages in Oriental perfumery. [AS., fr. L. nardus, Gr. nêrd, Per. nard, Scr. nalada.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Triumph of Charis is in the public domain. This text is taken from Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter and Some Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5134; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Ben Jonson, The Triumph of Charis, in Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter and Some Poems (1616), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5134, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/jonson-poems/the-triumph-of-charis.html, id L23807.
Form and metre
The Triumph of Charis is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is anapaestic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%).
See other poems in anapaestic trimeter.
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 ABABCCDDEE loveA · ridethB · doveA · guidethB · dutyC · beautyC · mightD · sightD · sideE · rideE
- 2 ABAB--CCDD lightA · comprisethB · brightA · risethB · smoother · her · graceC · faceC · lifeD · strifeD
- 3 ABAB--CCDD growA · itB · snowA · itB · beaver · ever · brierC · fireC · beeD · sheD
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| SEE the chariot at hand here of Love, | 10 | ··/˘˘····· |
| Wherein my lady rideth! | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Each that draws is a swan or a dove, | 9 | ········· |
| And well the car Love guideth. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| As she goes, all hearts do duty | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Unto her beauty; | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And, enamoured, do wish, so they might | 10 | ·˘/˘˘····· |
| But enjoy such a sight, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| That they still were to run by her side, | 9 | ········· |
| Through swords, through seas, whither she would ride. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Do but look on her eyes, they do light | 9 | ········· |
| All that Love’s world compriseth! | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Do but look on her hair, it is bright | 9 | ········· |
| As Love’s star when it riseth! | 7 | ······· |
| Do but mark, her forehead’s smoother | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| Than words that soothe her! | 5 | ····· |
| And from her arched brows, such a grace | 9 | ····˘···· |
| Sheds itself through the face, | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| As alone there triumphs to the life | 9 | ·˘/·/˘··· |
| All the gain, all the good, of the elements’ strife. | 11 | ········/˘· |
| Have you seen but a bright lily grow | 9 | ······/˘· |
| Before rude hands have touched it? | 7 | ······· |
| Have you marked but the fall o’ the snow | 10 | ···˘······ |
| Before the soil hath smutched it? | 7 | ······· |
| Have you felt the wool of beaver? | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Or swan’s down ever? | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Or have smelt o’ the bud o’ the brier? | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Or the nard in the fire? | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Or have tasted the bag of the bee? | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| O so white! O so soft! O so sweet is she! | 11 | ··········· |
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.