Written at the Age of Fourteen
Ill-fated maid, in whose unhappy trainChill poverty and misery are seen,Anguish and discontent, the unhappy baneOf life, and blackener of each brighter scene.Why to thy votaries dost thou give to feelSo keenly all the scorns--the jeers of life?Why not endow them to endure the strifeWith apathy's invulnerable steel,Of self-content and ease, each torturing wound to heal?
Ah! who would taste your self-deluding joys,That lure the unwary to a wretched doom,That bid fair views and flattering hopes arise,Then hurl them headlong to a lasting tomb?What is the charm which leads thy victims onTo persevere in paths that lead to woe?What can induce them in that route to go,In which innumerous before have gone,And died in misery poor and woe-begone?
Yet can I ask what charms in thee are found;I, who have drunk from thine ethereal rill,And tasted all the pleasures that aboundUpon Parnassus' loved Aonian hill?I, through whose soul the Muse's strains aye thrill!Oh! I do feel the spell with which I'm tied;And though our annals fearful stories tell,How Savage languish'd, and how Otway died,Yet must I persevere, let whate'er will betide.
Words in this poem
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- blackener n.
- One who blackens.
- keenly adv.
- In a keen manner.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- invulnerable a.
- Incapable of being wounded, or of receiving injury. [L. invulnerabilis: cf. F. invulnérable. See In- not, and Vulnerable.]
- unwary a.
- Not vigilant against danger; not wary or cautious; unguarded; precipitate; heedless; careless. [Cf. Unware.]
- induce v. t.
- To lead in; to introduce. [L. inducere, inductum; pref. in- in + ducere to lead. See Duke, and cf. Induct.]
- route n.
- The course or way which is traveled or passed, or is to be passed; a passing; a course; a road or path; a march. [OE. & F. route, OF. rote, fr. L. rupta (sc. via), fr. ruptus, p.p. of rumpere to break; hence, literally, a broken or beaten way or path. See Rout, and cf. Rut ]
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- aonian a.
- Pertaining to Aonia, Boeotia, or to the Muses, who were supposed to dwell there. Aonian fount, the fountain of Aganippe, at the foot of Mount Helicon, not far from Thebes, and sacred to the Muses. [From Aonia, a part of Boeotia, in Greece.]
- annals n.
- A relation of events in chronological order, each event being recorded under the year in which it happened. [L. annalis (sc. liber), and more frequently in the pl. annales (sc. libri), chronicles, fr. annus year. Cf. Annual.]
- betide v. t.
- To happen to; to befall; to come to ; as, woe betide the wanderer. [OE. bitiden; pref. bi-, be- + tiden, fr. AS. tidan, to happen, fr. tid time. See Tide.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Written at the Age of Fourteen 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, Written at the Age of Fourteen, in The Poetical Works of Henry Kirke White (1803–1806), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7149, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/kirke-white-poems/written-at-the-age-of-fourteen.html, id L10107.
Form and metre
Written at the Age of Fourteen is 27 lines in 3 stanzas of 9 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 81%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.2 syllables. 22% 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 ABABCDDCC trainA · seenB · baneA · sceneB · feelC · lifeD · strifeD · steelC · healC
- 2 -A-ABCCBB joys · doomA · arise · tombA · onB · woeC · goC · goneB · begoneB
- 3 ABABBC-CC foundA · rillB · aboundA · hillB · thrillB · tiedC · tell · diedC · betideC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ill-fated maid, in whose unhappy train | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Chill poverty and misery are seen, | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘·· |
| Anguish and discontent, the unhappy bane | 10 | /˘·˘/·˘/˘· |
| Of life, and blackener of each brighter scene. | 10 | ···/˘˘··/· |
| Why to thy votaries dost thou give to feel | 10 | ·········· |
| So keenly all the scorns--the jeers of life? | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Why not endow them to endure the strife | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| With apathy's invulnerable steel, | 10 | ·/˘˘˘/˘˘˘· |
| Of self-content and ease, each torturing wound to heal? | 12 | ··˘/···/˘··· |
| Ah! who would taste your self-deluding joys, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| That lure the unwary to a wretched doom, | 11 | ···˘/˘··/˘· |
| That bid fair views and flattering hopes arise, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Then hurl them headlong to a lasting tomb? | 10 | ···/···/˘· |
| What is the charm which leads thy victims on | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To persevere in paths that lead to woe? | 10 | ·˘˘/······ |
| What can induce them in that route to go, | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| In which innumerous before have gone, | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| And died in misery poor and woe-begone? | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Yet can I ask what charms in thee are found; | 10 | ·········· |
| I, who have drunk from thine ethereal rill, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| And tasted all the pleasures that abound | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Upon Parnassus' loved Aonian hill? | 11 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘· |
| I, through whose soul the Muse's strains aye thrill! | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Oh! I do feel the spell with which I'm tied; | 10 | ·········· |
| And though our annals fearful stories tell, | 10 | ··//˘/˘/˘· |
| How Savage languish'd, and how Otway died, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Yet must I persevere, let whate'er will betide. | 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.