A Song
Th'ambitious Eye that seeks alone,Where Beauties Wonders most are shown;Of all that bounteous Heaven displays,Let him on bright Alinda gaze;And in her high Example see,All can admir'd, or wisht-for, be!
An unmatch't Form, Mind like endow'd,Estate, and Title great and proud;A Charge Heaven dares to few commit,So few, like her, can manage it;Without all Blame or Envy bear,The being Witty, Great and Fair!
So well these Murd'ring Weapons weild,As first Herself with them to shield,Then slaughter none in proud Disport,Destroy those she invites to Court:Great are her Charmes, but Vertue more,She wounds no Hearts, though All adore.
'Tis Am'rous Beauty Love invites,A Passion, like it self, excites:The Paragon, though all admire,Kindles in none a fond desire:No more than those the Kings RenownAnd State applaud, affect his Crown.
These following Fragments among many more were found among herPapers.
Words in this poem
- bounteous a.
- Liberal in charity; disposed to give freely; generously liberal; munificent; beneficent; free in bestowing gifts; as, bounteous production. [OE. bountevous, fr. bounte bounty.]
- witty a.
- Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
- disport n.
- Play; sport; pastime; diversion; playfulness. [OF. desport, deport. See Disport, v. i., and cf. Sport.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- paragon n.
- A companion; a match; an equal.
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems (1686), Project Gutenberg ebook #41076; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Anne Killigrew, A Song, in Poems (1686) (1686), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41076, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/killigrew-poems/a-song.html, id L09205.
Form and metre
A Song is 26 lines in 5 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABBCC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic 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 AABBCC aloneA · shownA · displaysB · gazeB · seeC · beC
- 2 AABBCC endow'dA · proudA · commitB · itB · bearC · fairC
- 3 AABBCC weildA · shieldA · disportB · courtB · moreC · adoreC
- 4 AA--BB invitesA · excitesA · admire · desire · renownB · crownB
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 tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Th'ambitious Eye that seeks alone, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Where Beauties Wonders most are shown; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Of all that bounteous Heaven displays, | 10 | ···/˘˘/˘˘/ |
| Let him on bright Alinda gaze; | 8 | ········ |
| And in her high Example see, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| All can admir'd, or wisht-for, be! | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| An unmatch't Form, Mind like endow'd, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Estate, and Title great and proud; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| A Charge Heaven dares to few commit, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| So few, like her, can manage it; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Without all Blame or Envy bear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The being Witty, Great and Fair! | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| So well these Murd'ring Weapons weild, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As first Herself with them to shield, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Then slaughter none in proud Disport, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Destroy those she invites to Court: | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| Great are her Charmes, but Vertue more, | 7 | ······· |
| She wounds no Hearts, though All adore. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| 'Tis Am'rous Beauty Love invites, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| A Passion, like it self, excites: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The Paragon, though all admire, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Kindles in none a fond desire: | 9 | /˘····˘/˘ |
| No more than those the Kings Renown | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And State applaud, affect his Crown. | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| These following Fragments among many more were found among her | 14 | ·/˘/˘··/······ |
| Papers. | 2 | /˘ |
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