A Prologue to the Scholars. A Comaedy Presented at the White Fryers
A gentleman, to give us somewhat new,Hath brought up OXFORD with him to show you;Pray be not frighted--Tho the scaene and gown'sThe Universities, the wit's the town's;The lines each honest Englishman may speake:Yet not mistake his mother-tongue for Greeke,For stil 'twas part of his vow'd liturgie:--From learned comedies deliver me!Wishing all those that lov'd 'em here asleepe,Promising SCHOLARS, but no SCHOLARSHIP.
You'd smile to see, how he do's vex and shake,Speakes naught; but, if the PROLOGUE do's but take,Or the first act were past the pikes once, then--Then hopes and joys, then frowns and fears agen,Then blushes like a virgin, now to beRob'd of his comicall virginityIn presence of you all. In short, you'd sayMore hopes of mirth are in his looks then play.
These feares are for the noble and the wise;But if 'mongst you there are such fowle dead eyes,As can damne unaraign'd, cal law their pow'rs,Judging it sin enough that it is ours,And with the house shift their decreed desires,FAIRE still to th' BLACKE, BLACKE still to the WHITE-FRYERS;He do's protest he wil sit down and weepCastles and pyramids . . .. . . . . . No, he wil on,Proud to be rais'd by such destruction,So far from quarr'lling with himselfe and wit,That he wil thank them for the benefit,Since finding nothing worthy of their hate,They reach him that themselves must envy at:
Words in this poem
- promising a.
- Making a promise or promises; affording hope or assurance; as, promising person; a promising day.
- scholarship n.
- The character and qualities of a scholar; attainments in science or literature; erudition; learning.
- comicall a.
- Relating to comedy.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Prologue to the Scholars. A Comaedy Presented at the White Fryers 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 Prologue to the Scholars. A Comaedy Presented at the White Fryers, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/a-prologue-to-the-scholars-a-comaedy-presented-at-the-white-.html, id L13017.
Form and metre
A Prologue to the Scholars. A Comaedy Presented at the White Fryers is 32 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.8 syllables. 7 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 16% 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 AABBCC---- newA · youA · gown'sB · town'sB · speakeC · greekeC · liturgie · me · asleepe · scholarship
- 2 AA----BB shakeA · takeA · then · agen · be · virginity · sayB · playB
- 3 AA-ABB--CCDDDD wiseA · eyesA · pow'rs · oursA · desiresB · fryersB · weep · pyramids · onC · destructionC · witD · benefitD · hateD · atD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A gentleman, to give us somewhat new, | 10 | ·/˘˘···//· |
| Hath brought up OXFORD with him to show you; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Pray be not frighted--Tho the scaene and gown's | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| The Universities, the wit's the town's; | 10 | ··˘/˘˘···· |
| The lines each honest Englishman may speake: | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Yet not mistake his mother-tongue for Greeke, | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| For stil 'twas part of his vow'd liturgie:-- | 10 | ·········· |
| From learned comedies deliver me! | 10 | ··˘/˘˘˘/˘· |
| Wishing all those that lov'd 'em here asleepe, | 10 | /˘········ |
| Promising SCHOLARS, but no SCHOLARSHIP. | 10 | /˘˘/˘··/˘· |
| You'd smile to see, how he do's vex and shake, | 10 | ·········· |
| Speakes naught; but, if the PROLOGUE do's but take, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or the first act were past the pikes once, then-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Then hopes and joys, then frowns and fears agen, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Then blushes like a virgin, now to be | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Rob'd of his comicall virginity | 10 | ···/˘˘˘/˘˘ |
| In presence of you all. In short, you'd say | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| More hopes of mirth are in his looks then play. | 10 | ·········· |
| These feares are for the noble and the wise; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| But if 'mongst you there are such fowle dead eyes, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| As can damne unaraign'd, cal law their pow'rs, | 10 | ·········· |
| Judging it sin enough that it is ours, | 11 | /˘··˘/···/˘ |
| And with the house shift their decreed desires, | 11 | ······˘/˘/˘ |
| FAIRE still to th' BLACKE, BLACKE still to the WHITE-FRYERS; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| He do's protest he wil sit down and weep | 10 | ··/······· |
| Castles and pyramids . . . | 6 | /˘·/˘˘ |
| . . . . . . No, he wil on, | 4 | ···· |
| Proud to be rais'd by such destruction, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| So far from quarr'lling with himselfe and wit, | 10 | ·········· |
| That he wil thank them for the benefit, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Since finding nothing worthy of their hate, | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| They reach him that themselves must envy at: | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
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.