De Quintia Et Lesbia. Ep. 87
Quintia formosa est multis, mihi candida, longa,Recta est; haec ego sic singula confiteor:Tota illud formosa nego: nam multa venustas;Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis.Lesbia formosa est quae, cum pulcherrima tota est,Tum omnibus una omneis surripuit veneres.
Words in this poem
- confiteor n.
- A form of prayer in which public confession of sins is made. [L., I confess. See Confess.]
- omnibus n.
- A long four-wheeled carriage, having seats for many people; especially, one with seats running lengthwise, used in conveying passengers short distances. [L., for all, dat. pl. from omnis all. Cf. Bus.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
De Quintia Et Lesbia. Ep. 87 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, De Quintia Et Lesbia. Ep. 87, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/de-quintia-et-lesbia-ep-87.html, id L13109.
Form and metre
De Quintia Et Lesbia. Ep. 87 is 6 lines in a single verse paragraph. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. The lines average 14.7 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
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.
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Quintia formosa est multis, mihi candida, longa, | 15 | ··˘/˘˘//˘··/˘·· |
| Recta est; haec ego sic singula confiteor: | 15 | ··˘/·/˘····˘/˘˘ |
| Tota illud formosa nego: nam multa venustas; | 15 | /˘··˘/˘········ |
| Nulla in tam magno est corpore mica salis. | 14 | ····/˘˘/··/˘/˘ |
| Lesbia formosa est quae, cum pulcherrima tota est, | 17 | ··˘/˘˘/······/˘˘/ |
| Tum omnibus una omneis surripuit veneres. | 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.