To the Reader
Reader, dost ask, What Work we here display?What fair and Novel Piece salutes the Day?Know, that a Virgin bright this POEM writ,A Grace for Beauty, and a Muse for Wit!Who, when none higher in Loves Courts might sway,Despis'd the Mertile, for the nobler Bay!Nor could Apollo or Minerva tell,Whither her Pen or Pencil did excel!But while these Pow'rs laid both to her their Claime,Behold, a Matron of a Heavenly Frame,Antique, but Great and Comely in her Meen,Upon whose gorgeous Robe inscrib'd was seenDivine Vertue, took her from both away, }And thus with Anger and Disdain did say, }Of Me she Learn'd, with You she did but Play. }
To the Pious MemoryOf the Accomplisht Young LADYMrs Anne Killigrew,Excellent in the two Sister-Arts of Poësie, and Painting.
Words in this poem
- minerva n.
- The goddess of wisdom, of war, of the arts and sciences, of poetry, and of spinning and weaving; -- identified with the Grecian Pallas Athene. [L.]
- 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.]
- gorgeous a.
- Imposing through splendid or various colors; showy; fine; magnificent. [OF. gorgias beautiful, glorious, vain, luxurious; cf. OF. gorgias ruff, neck handkerchief, and F. gorge throat, and se pengorger to assume airs. Cf. Gorge, n.]
- killigrew n.
- The Cornish chough. See under Chough.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To the Reader 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, To the Reader, in Poems (1686) (1686), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #41076, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/killigrew-poems/to-the-reader.html, id L09186.
Form and metre
To the Reader is 19 lines in 2 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%). 86% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.7 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in heroic couplets, 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 AABBAACC--DDEEE displayA · dayA · writB · witB · swayA · bayA · tellC · excelC · claime · frame · meenD · seenD · — · — · —
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Reader, dost ask, What Work we here display? | 10 | /˘······˘/ |
| What fair and Novel Piece salutes the Day? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Know, that a Virgin bright this POEM writ, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| A Grace for Beauty, and a Muse for Wit! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Who, when none higher in Loves Courts might sway, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Despis'd the Mertile, for the nobler Bay! | 11 | ˘/······/˘· |
| Nor could Apollo or Minerva tell, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whither her Pen or Pencil did excel! | 10 | /˘···/˘·˘/ |
| But while these Pow'rs laid both to her their Claime, | 10 | ·········· |
| Behold, a Matron of a Heavenly Frame, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Antique, but Great and Comely in her Meen, | 10 | ˘/···/˘··· |
| Upon whose gorgeous Robe inscrib'd was seen | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Divine Vertue, took her from both away, } | 9 | ˘/·····˘/ |
| And thus with Anger and Disdain did say, } | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Of Me she Learn'd, with You she did but Play. } | 10 | ·········· |
| To the Pious Memory | 7 | ··/˘/˘˘ |
| Of the Accomplisht Young LADY | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Mrs Anne Killigrew, | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| Excellent in the two Sister-Arts of Poësie, and Painting. | 14 | /˘···/˘·····/˘ |
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.