Love Inthron'd: Ode
Introth, I do my self perswade,That the wilde boy is grown a man,And all his childishnesse off laid,E're since LUCASTA did his fires fan;H' has left his apish jigs,And whipping hearts like gigs:For t' other day I heard him swear,That beauty should be crown'd in honours chair.
With what a true and heavenly stateHe doth his glorious darts dispence,Now cleans'd from falsehood, blood and hate,And newly tipt with innocence!Love Justice is become,And doth the cruel doome;Reversed is the old decree;Behold! he sits inthron'd with majestie.
Inthroned in LUCASTA'S eye,He doth our faith and hearts survey;Then measures them by sympathy,And each to th' others breast convey;Whilst to his altars nowThe frozen vestals bow,And strickt Diana too doth goA-hunting with his fear'd, exchanged bow.
Th' imbracing seas and ambient airNow in his holy fires burn;Fish couple, birds and beasts in pairDo their own sacrifices turn.This is a miracle,That might religion swell;But she, that these and their god awes,Her crowned self submits to her own laws.
Words in this poem
- apish a.
- Having the qualities of an ape; prone to imitate in a servile manner. Hence: Apelike; fantastically silly; foppish; affected; trifling.
- 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.]
- diana n.
- The daughter of Jupiter and Latona; a virgin goddess who presided over hunting, chastity, and marriage; -- identified with the Greek goddess Artemis. [L. Diana.]
- ambient a.
- Encompassing on all sides; circumfused; investing. [L. ambiens, p. pr. of ambire to go around; amb- + ire to go.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love Inthron'd: Ode 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, Love Inthron'd: Ode, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/love-inthron-d-ode.html, id L13031.
Form and metre
Love Inthron'd: Ode is 32 lines in 4 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCCDD, complete in 2 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.9 syllables. 3 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 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 ABABCCDD perswadeA · manB · laidA · fanB · jigsC · gigsC · swearD · chairD
- 2 ABAB---- stateA · dispenceB · hateA · innocenceB · become · doome · decree · majestie
- 3 -A-ABB-B eye · surveyA · sympathy · conveyA · nowB · bowB · go · bowB
- 4 ABABCCDD airA · burnB · pairA · turnB · miracleC · swellC · awesD · lawsD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Introth, I do my self perswade, | 8 | ········ |
| That the wilde boy is grown a man, | 8 | ········ |
| And all his childishnesse off laid, | 8 | ········ |
| E're since LUCASTA did his fires fan; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| H' has left his apish jigs, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And whipping hearts like gigs: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| For t' other day I heard him swear, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| That beauty should be crown'd in honours chair. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| With what a true and heavenly state | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| He doth his glorious darts dispence, | 9 | ···/˘˘·˘/ |
| Now cleans'd from falsehood, blood and hate, | 8 | ···/···· |
| And newly tipt with innocence! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Love Justice is become, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And doth the cruel doome; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Reversed is the old decree; | 7 | ˘/···˘/ |
| Behold! he sits inthron'd with majestie. | 10 | ˘/········ |
| Inthroned in LUCASTA'S eye, | 7 | ······· |
| He doth our faith and hearts survey; | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| Then measures them by sympathy, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| And each to th' others breast convey; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Whilst to his altars now | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The frozen vestals bow, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And strickt Diana too doth go | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| A-hunting with his fear'd, exchanged bow. | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Th' imbracing seas and ambient air | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Now in his holy fires burn; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Fish couple, birds and beasts in pair | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Do their own sacrifices turn. | 8 | ···/˘·˘· |
| This is a miracle, | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| That might religion swell; | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| But she, that these and their god awes, | 8 | ········ |
| Her crowned self submits to her own laws. | 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.