Ode IV
How bright the fair Paulina did appear,When hid in jewels she did seem a star!But who could soberly beholdA wicked owl in cloath of gold,Or the ridiculous ApeIn sacred Vesta's shape?So doth agreeJust praise with thee:For since thy birth gave thee no beauty, know,No poets pencil must or can do so.
"We put on Berenice's hair,And sit in Cassiopeia's chair."
"Shine forth a constellation, full and bright,Bless the poor heavens with more majestick light,Who in requitall shall present you thereARIADNE'S CROWNE and CASSIOPEIA'S CHAYR."POEMS, ed. 1640, p. 14.
Words in this poem
- soberly a.
- Grave; serious; solemn; sad.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode IV 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, Ode IV, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/ode-iv.html, id L13048.
Form and metre
Ode IV is 17 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 24% 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 --AABBCCDD appear · star · beholdA · goldA · apeB · shapeB · agreeC · theeC · knowD · soD
- 2 AA hairA · chairA
- 3 AA--- brightA · lightA · there · chayr · —
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How bright the fair Paulina did appear, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| When hid in jewels she did seem a star! | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| But who could soberly behold | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| A wicked owl in cloath of gold, | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| Or the ridiculous Ape | 7 | ··˘/˘˘· |
| In sacred Vesta's shape? | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| So doth agree | 4 | ··˘/ |
| Just praise with thee: | 4 | ···· |
| For since thy birth gave thee no beauty, know, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| No poets pencil must or can do so. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| "We put on Berenice's hair, | 8 | ········ |
| And sit in Cassiopeia's chair." | 7 | ······· |
| "Shine forth a constellation, full and bright, | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| Bless the poor heavens with more majestick light, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| Who in requitall shall present you there | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| ARIADNE'S CROWNE and CASSIOPEIA'S CHAYR." | 10 | ·˘/˘······ |
| POEMS, ed. 1640, p. 14. | 4 | /˘·· |
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.