Another
I did believe I was in heav'n,When first the heav'n her self was giv'n,That in my heart her beams did passeAs some the sun keep in a glasse,So that her beauties thorow meDid hurt my rival-enemy.But fate, alas! decreed it so,That I was engine to my woe:For, as a corner'd christal spot,My heart diaphanous was not;But solid stuffe, where her eye flingsQuick fire upon the catching strings:Yet, as at triumphs in the night,You see the Prince's Arms in light,So, when I once was set on flame,I burnt all ore the letters of her name.
Words in this poem
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- thorow a.
- Thorough. Hakluyt.
- diaphanous a.
- Allowing light to pass through, as porcelain; translucent or transparent; pellucid; clear. [Gr. diaphane. See Phantom, and cf. Diaphane, Diaphanic.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Another 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, Another, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/another.html, id L13044.
Form and metre
Another is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% 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 ------AABBCCDDEE heav'n · giv'n · passe · glasse · me · enemy · soA · woeA · spotB · notB · flingsC · stringsC · nightD · lightD · flameE · nameE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I did believe I was in heav'n, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| When first the heav'n her self was giv'n, | 8 | ········ |
| That in my heart her beams did passe | 9 | ········/ |
| As some the sun keep in a glasse, | 8 | ········ |
| So that her beauties thorow me | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Did hurt my rival-enemy. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| But fate, alas! decreed it so, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| That I was engine to my woe: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For, as a corner'd christal spot, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| My heart diaphanous was not; | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| But solid stuffe, where her eye flings | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Quick fire upon the catching strings: | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| Yet, as at triumphs in the night, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You see the Prince's Arms in light, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So, when I once was set on flame, | 8 | ········ |
| I burnt all ore the letters of her name. | 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.