A Dialogue
Amyntor.Alexis! ah Alexis! can it be,Though so much wet and drieDoth drowne our eye,Thou keep'st thy winged voice from me?
Alexis.Amyntor, a profounder sea, I feare,Hath swallow'd me, where nowMy armes do row,I floate i'th' ocean of a teare.
Lucasta weepes, lest I look back and treadYour Watry land againe.Amyn. I'd through the raine;Such showrs are quickly over-spread.
Conceive how joy, after this short divorce,Will circle her with beames,When, like your streames,You shall rowle back with kinder force,
And call the helping winds to vent your thought.Alex. Amyntor! Chloris! whereOr in what sphereSay, may that glorious fair be sought?
Amyn. She's now the center of these armes e're blest,Whence may she never move,Till Time and LoveHaste to their everlasting rest.
Alex. Ah subtile swaine! doth not my flame rise highAs yours, and burne as hot?Am not I shotWith the selfe same artillery?
And can I breath without her air?--Amyn.Why, then,From thy tempestuous earth,Where blood and dearthRaigne 'stead of kings, agen
Wafte thy selfe over, and lest storms from farArise, bring in our sightThe seas delight,Lucasta, that bright northerne star.
Alex. But as we cut the rugged deepe, I feareThe green god stops his fellChariot of shell,And smooths the maine to ravish her.
Amyn. Oh no, the prince of waters' fires are done;He as his empire's old,And rivers, cold;His queen now runs abed to th' sun;
But all his treasure he shall ope' that day:Tritons shall sound: his fleeteIn silver meete,And to her their rich offrings pay.
Alex. We flye, Amyntor, not amaz'd how sentBy water, earth, or aire:Or if with herBy fire: ev'n thereI move in mine owne element.
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- artillery n.
- Munitions of war; implements for warfare, as slings, bows, and arrows. [OE. artilrie, OF. artillerie, arteillerie, fr. LL. artillaria, artilleria, machines and apparatus of all kinds used in war, vans laden with arms of any kind whi]
- dearth n.
- Scarcity which renders dear; want; lack; specifically, lack of food on account of failure of crops; famine. [OE. derthe, fr. dere. See Dear.]
- abed adv.
- In bed, or on the bed. [Pref. a- in, on + bed.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Dialogue is in the public domain. This text is taken from Lucasta, Project Gutenberg ebook #703; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Richard Lovelace, A Dialogue, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/a-dialogue.html, id L18586.
Form and metre
A Dialogue is 56 lines in 13 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABBA, complete in 7 of its 13 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 3 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 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 -A-AA amyntor · beA · drie · eyeA · meA
- 2 -A--A alexis · feareA · now · row · teareA
- 3 ABBA treadA · againeB · raineB · spreadA
- 4 ABBA divorceA · beamesB · streamesB · forceA
- 5 ABBA thoughtA · whereB · sphereB · soughtA
- 6 ABBA blestA · moveB · loveB · restA
- 7 -AA- high · hotA · shotA · artillery
- 8 --AA- amyn · then · earthA · dearthA · agen
- 9 ABBA farA · sightB · delightB · starA
- 10 -AA- feare · fellA · shellA · her
- 11 ABBA doneA · oldB · coldB · sunA
- 12 ABBA dayA · fleeteB · meeteB · payA
- 13 AB-BA sentA · aireB · her · thereB · elementA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amyntor. | 3 | ··· |
| Alexis! ah Alexis! can it be, | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘··· |
| Though so much wet and drie | 6 | ······ |
| Doth drowne our eye, | 5 | ··/˘· |
| Thou keep'st thy winged voice from me? | 7 | ······· |
| Alexis. | 3 | ˘/˘ |
| Amyntor, a profounder sea, I feare, | 10 | ·········· |
| Hath swallow'd me, where now | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My armes do row, | 4 | ···· |
| I floate i'th' ocean of a teare. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lucasta weepes, lest I look back and tread | 10 | ·········· |
| Your Watry land againe. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Amyn. I'd through the raine; | 6 | ······ |
| Such showrs are quickly over-spread. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Conceive how joy, after this short divorce, | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| Will circle her with beames, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When, like your streames, | 4 | ···· |
| You shall rowle back with kinder force, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And call the helping winds to vent your thought. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Alex. Amyntor! Chloris! where | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| Or in what sphere | 4 | ···· |
| Say, may that glorious fair be sought? | 9 | ···/˘˘··· |
| Amyn. She's now the center of these armes e're blest, | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| Whence may she never move, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Till Time and Love | 4 | ···· |
| Haste to their everlasting rest. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Alex. Ah subtile swaine! doth not my flame rise high | 12 | /˘·/˘······· |
| As yours, and burne as hot? | 6 | ······ |
| Am not I shot | 4 | ···· |
| With the selfe same artillery? | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| And can I breath without her air?--Amyn. | 10 | ·········· |
| Why, then, | 2 | ·· |
| From thy tempestuous earth, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Where blood and dearth | 4 | ···· |
| Raigne 'stead of kings, agen | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Wafte thy selfe over, and lest storms from far | 10 | ·········· |
| Arise, bring in our sight | 7 | ˘/··/˘· |
| The seas delight, | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Lucasta, that bright northerne star. | 8 | ········ |
| Alex. But as we cut the rugged deepe, I feare | 12 | /˘·····/˘··· |
| The green god stops his fell | 6 | ······ |
| Chariot of shell, | 5 | /˘˘·· |
| And smooths the maine to ravish her. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Amyn. Oh no, the prince of waters' fires are done; | 12 | ·······/˘/·· |
| He as his empire's old, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And rivers, cold; | 4 | ·/˘· |
| His queen now runs abed to th' sun; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But all his treasure he shall ope' that day: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Tritons shall sound: his fleete | 6 | /˘···· |
| In silver meete, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| And to her their rich offrings pay. | 8 | ········ |
| Alex. We flye, Amyntor, not amaz'd how sent | 12 | /˘······˘/·· |
| By water, earth, or aire: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Or if with her | 4 | ···· |
| By fire: ev'n there | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| I move in mine owne element. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
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.