Verses
Thou base repiner at another's joy,Whose eye turns green at merit not thine own,Oh, far away from generous Britons fly,And find on meaner climes a fitter throne.Away, away, it shall not be,Thou shalt not dare defile our plains;The truly generous heart disdainsThy meaner, lowlier fires, while heJoys at another's joy, and smiles at other's jollity.
Triumphant monster! though thy schemes succeed--Schemes laid in Acheron, the brood of night,Yet, but a little while, and nobly freed,Thy happy victim will emerge to light;When o'er his head in silence that reposesSome kindred soul shall come to drop a tear;Then will his last cold pillow turn to roses,Which thou hadst planted with the thorn severe;Then will thy baseness stand confess'd, and allWill curse the ungenerous fate, that bade a Poet fall.
Yet, ah! thy arrows are too keen, too sure:Couldst thou not pitch upon another prey?Alas! in robbing him thou robb'st the poor,Who only boast what thou wouldst take away.See the lone Bard at midnight study sitting,O'er his pale features streams his dying lamp;While o'er fond Fancy's pale perspective flitting,Successive forms their fleet ideas stamp.Yet say, is bliss upon his brow impress'd?Does jocund Health in Thought's still mansion live?Lo, the cold dews that on his temples rest,That short quick sigh--their sad responses give.
And canst thou rob a poet of his song;Snatch from the bard his trivial meed of praise?Small are his gains, nor does he hold them long;Then leave, oh, leave him to enjoy his laysWhile yet he lives--for to his merits just,Though future ages join his fame to raise,Will the loud trump awake his cold unheeding dust?
Words in this poem 16
- repiner n.
- One who repines.
- generous a.
- Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [F. généreux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.]
- fitter n.
- A little piece; a flitter; a flinder.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- acheron n.
- A river in the Nether World or infernal regions; also, the infernal regions themselves. By some of the English poets it was supposed to be a flaming lake or gulf.
- nobly adv.
- Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
- ungenerous a.
- Not generous; illiberal; ignoble; unkind; dishonorable.
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- perspective a.
- Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. [L. perspicere, perspectum, to look through; per + spicere, specere, to look: cf. F. perspectif; or from E. perspective, n. See Spy, n.]
- flitting n.
- A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
- jocund
- Merry; cheerful; gay; airy; lively; sportive. [L. jocundus, jucundus, orig., helpful, fr. juvare to help. See Aid.]
- mansion n.
- A dwelling place, -- whether a part or whole of a house or other shelter. [OF. mansion, F. maison, fr. L. mansio a staying, remaining, a dwelling, habitation, fr. manere, mansum, to stay, dwell; akin to Gr. Manse, Manor, Menagerie, Men]
- trivial a.
- Found anywhere; common. [L. trivialis, properly, that is in, or belongs to, the crossroads or public streets; hence, that may be found everywhere, common, fr. trivium a place where thre]
- meed v. t.
- To reward; to repay. Waytt.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Verses is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Henry Kirk White : With a Memoir by Sir Harris Nicolas, Project Gutenberg ebook #7149; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Henry Kirke White, Verses, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/verses-2.html, id L10084.
Form and metre
Verses is 38 lines in 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 13% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 -ABABCCB- joy · ownA · flyB · throneA · beB · plainsC · disdainsC · heB · jollity
- 2 ABABCDCDEE succeedA · nightB · freedA · lightB · reposesC · tearD · rosesC · severeD · allE · fallE
- 3 ABABCDCDEFEF sureA · preyB · poorA · awayB · sittingC · lampD · flittingC · stampD · impress'dE · liveF · restE · giveF
- 4 ABABCBC songA · praiseB · longA · laysB · justC · raiseB · dustC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Thou base repiner at another's joy, | 10 | ··˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Whose eye turns green at merit not thine own, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Oh, far away from generous Britons fly, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘/˘· |
| And find on meaner climes a fitter throne. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Away, away, it shall not be, | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| Thou shalt not dare defile our plains; | 9 | ····˘//˘· |
| The truly generous heart disdains | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·˘/ |
| Thy meaner, lowlier fires, while he | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| Joys at another's joy, and smiles at other's jollity. | 14 | ··˘/˘····/˘/˘˘ |
| Triumphant monster! though thy schemes succeed-- | 10 | ˘/˘/˘···˘/ |
| Schemes laid in Acheron, the brood of night, | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| Yet, but a little while, and nobly freed, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Thy happy victim will emerge to light; | 10 | ·/˘/˘·˘/·· |
| When o'er his head in silence that reposes | 11 | ·····/˘·/·˘ |
| Some kindred soul shall come to drop a tear; | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Then will his last cold pillow turn to roses, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Which thou hadst planted with the thorn severe; | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Then will thy baseness stand confess'd, and all | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
| Will curse the ungenerous fate, that bade a Poet fall. | 14 | ···˘/˘˘····/˘· |
| Yet, ah! thy arrows are too keen, too sure: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Couldst thou not pitch upon another prey? | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Alas! in robbing him thou robb'st the poor, | 10 | ˘/·/˘····· |
| Who only boast what thou wouldst take away. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| See the lone Bard at midnight study sitting, | 11 | ·····/·/˘/˘ |
| O'er his pale features streams his dying lamp; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| While o'er fond Fancy's pale perspective flitting, | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘/˘ |
| Successive forms their fleet ideas stamp. | 10 | ˘/˘···˘/˘· |
| Yet say, is bliss upon his brow impress'd? | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Does jocund Health in Thought's still mansion live? | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Lo, the cold dews that on his temples rest, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That short quick sigh--their sad responses give. | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And canst thou rob a poet of his song; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Snatch from the bard his trivial meed of praise? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Small are his gains, nor does he hold them long; | 10 | ·········· |
| Then leave, oh, leave him to enjoy his lays | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| While yet he lives--for to his merits just, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Though future ages join his fame to raise, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Will the loud trump awake his cold unheeding dust? | 12 | ····˘/······ |
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.