A Fly Caught in a Cobweb
Small type of great ones, that do humWithin this whole world's narrow room,That with a busie hollow noiseCatch at the people's vainer voice,And with spread sails play with their breath,Whose very hails new christen death.Poor Fly, caught in an airy net,Thy wings have fetter'd now thy feet;Where, like a Lyon in a toyl,Howere thou keep'st a noble coyl,And beat'st thy gen'rous breast, that o'reThe plains thy fatal buzzes rore,Till thy all-bellyd foe (round elf)Hath quarter'd thee within himself.
Was it not better once to playI' th' light of a majestick ray,Where, though too neer and bold, the fireMight sindge thy upper down attire,And thou i' th' storm to loose an eye.A wing, or a self-trapping thigh:Yet hadst thou fal'n like him, whose coilMade fishes in the sea to broyl,When now th'ast scap'd the noble flame;Trapp'd basely in a slimy frame,And free of air, thou art becomeSlave to the spawn of mud and lome?
Nor is't enough thy self do's dresseTo thy swoln lord a num'rous messe,And by degrees thy thin veins bleed,And piecemeal dost his poyson feed;But now devour'd, art like to beA net spun for thy familie,And, straight expanded in the air,Hang'st for thy issue too a snare.Strange witty death and cruel illThat, killing thee, thou thine dost kill!Like pies, in whose entombed arkAll fowl crowd downward to a lark,Thou art thine en'mies' sepulcher,And in thee buriest, too, thine heir.
Yet Fates a glory have reserv'dFor one so highly hath deserv'd.As the rhinoceros doth dyUnder his castle-enemy,As through the cranes trunk throat doth speed,The aspe doth on his feeder feed;Fall yet triumphant in thy woe,Bound with the entrails of thy foe.
Words in this poem
- christen v. t.
- To baptize and give a Christian name to. [AS. cristnian to make a Christian, fr. cristen a Christian.]
- basely adv.
- In a base manner; with despicable meanness; dishonorably; shamefully.
- swoln
- Contraction of Swollen, p. p.
- piecemeal adv.
- In pieces; in parts or fragments. [OE. pecemele; pece a piece + AS. m, dat. pl. of m part. See Meal a portion.]
- witty a.
- Possessed of wit; knowing; wise; skillful; judicious; clever; cunning. [AS. witig, wittig. See Wit, n.]
- feeder n.
- One who, or that which, gives food or supplies nourishment; steward.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Fly Caught in a Cobweb 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 Fly Caught in a Cobweb, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/a-fly-caught-in-a-cobweb.html, id L13053.
Form and metre
A Fly Caught in a Cobweb is 48 lines in 4 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 ----AA--BBCCDD hum · room · noise · voice · breathA · deathA · net · feet · toylB · coylB · o'reC · roreC · elfD · himselfD
- 2 AABBCCDDEE-- playA · rayA · fireB · attireB · eyeC · thighC · coilD · broylD · flameE · frameE · become · lome
- 3 AABB--CCDDEE-C dresseA · messeA · bleedB · feedB · be · familie · airC · snareC · illD · killD · arkE · larkE · sepulcher · heirC
- 4 AA--BBCC reserv'dA · deserv'dA · dy · enemy · speedB · feedB · woeC · foeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Small type of great ones, that do hum | 8 | ········ |
| Within this whole world's narrow room, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That with a busie hollow noise | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Catch at the people's vainer voice, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And with spread sails play with their breath, | 8 | ········ |
| Whose very hails new christen death. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Poor Fly, caught in an airy net, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thy wings have fetter'd now thy feet; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Where, like a Lyon in a toyl, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Howere thou keep'st a noble coyl, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And beat'st thy gen'rous breast, that o're | 8 | ········ |
| The plains thy fatal buzzes rore, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Till thy all-bellyd foe (round elf) | 8 | ········ |
| Hath quarter'd thee within himself. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Was it not better once to play | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I' th' light of a majestick ray, | 8 | ········ |
| Where, though too neer and bold, the fire | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Might sindge thy upper down attire, | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| And thou i' th' storm to loose an eye. | 8 | ········ |
| A wing, or a self-trapping thigh: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Yet hadst thou fal'n like him, whose coil | 8 | ········ |
| Made fishes in the sea to broyl, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When now th'ast scap'd the noble flame; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Trapp'd basely in a slimy frame, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And free of air, thou art become | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Slave to the spawn of mud and lome? | 8 | ········ |
| Nor is't enough thy self do's dresse | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To thy swoln lord a num'rous messe, | 8 | ········ |
| And by degrees thy thin veins bleed, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And piecemeal dost his poyson feed; | 8 | ·/······ |
| But now devour'd, art like to be | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| A net spun for thy familie, | 8 | ········ |
| And, straight expanded in the air, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Hang'st for thy issue too a snare. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Strange witty death and cruel ill | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| That, killing thee, thou thine dost kill! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Like pies, in whose entombed ark | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| All fowl crowd downward to a lark, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Thou art thine en'mies' sepulcher, | 7 | ······· |
| And in thee buriest, too, thine heir. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Yet Fates a glory have reserv'd | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For one so highly hath deserv'd. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| As the rhinoceros doth dy | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Under his castle-enemy, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| As through the cranes trunk throat doth speed, | 8 | ········ |
| The aspe doth on his feeder feed; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Fall yet triumphant in thy woe, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Bound with the entrails of thy foe. | 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.