The Apostacy of One, and but One Lady
That frantick errour I adore,And am confirm'd the earth turns round;Now satisfied o're and o're,As rowling waves, so flowes the ground,And as her neighbour reels the shore:Finde such a woman says she loves;She's that fixt heav'n, which never moves.
In marble, steele, or porphyrie,Who carves or stampes his armes or face,Lookes it by rust or storme must dye:This womans love no time can raze,Hardned like ice in the sun's eye,Or your reflection in a glasse,Which keepes possession, though you passe.
We not behold a watches handTo stir, nor plants or flowers to grow;Must we infer that this doth stand,And therefore, that those do not blow?This she acts calmer, like Heav'ns brand,The stedfast lightning, slow loves dart,She kils, but ere we feele the smart.
Oh, she is constant as the winde,That revels in an ev'nings aire!Certaine as wayes unto the blinde,More reall then her flatt'ries are;Gentle as chaines that honour binde,More faithfull then an Hebrew Jew,But as the divel not halfe so true.
Words in this poem
- errour n.
- A wandering; a roving or irregular course. [OF. error, errur, F. erreur, L. error, fr. errare to err. See Err.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- raze n.
- A Shakespearean word (used once) supposed to mean the same as race, a root. [See Rack.]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- infer v. t.
- To bring on; to induce; to occasion. Harvey. [L. inferre to bring into, bring forward, occasion, infer; pref. in- in + ferre to carry, bring: cf. F. inférer. See 1 st Bear.]
- calmer n.
- One who, or that which, makes calm.
- reall a.
- Royal; regal; kingly.
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- faithfull a.
- Full of faith, or having faith; disposed to believe, especially in the declarations and promises of God.
- divel v. t.
- To rend apart. Sir T. Browne. [L. divellere; dit- = dis- + vellere to pluck.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Apostacy of One, and but One Lady 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, The Apostacy of One, and but One Lady, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/the-apostacy-of-one-and-but-one-lady.html, id L13002.
Form and metre
The Apostacy of One, and but One Lady is 28 lines in 4 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables.
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 ABABA-- adoreA · roundB · o'reA · groundB · shoreA · loves · moves
- 2 --A-A-- porphyrie · face · dyeA · raze · eyeA · glasse · passe
- 3 ABABACC handA · growB · standA · blowB · brandA · dartC · smartC
- 4 A-A-ABB windeA · aire · blindeA · are · bindeA · jewB · trueB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| That frantick errour I adore, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And am confirm'd the earth turns round; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Now satisfied o're and o're, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| As rowling waves, so flowes the ground, | 8 | ········ |
| And as her neighbour reels the shore: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Finde such a woman says she loves; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She's that fixt heav'n, which never moves. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In marble, steele, or porphyrie, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Who carves or stampes his armes or face, | 8 | ········ |
| Lookes it by rust or storme must dye: | 8 | ········ |
| This womans love no time can raze, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Hardned like ice in the sun's eye, | 7 | ······· |
| Or your reflection in a glasse, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Which keepes possession, though you passe. | 9 | ··˘/˘···/ |
| We not behold a watches hand | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| To stir, nor plants or flowers to grow; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Must we infer that this doth stand, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And therefore, that those do not blow? | 8 | ········ |
| This she acts calmer, like Heav'ns brand, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The stedfast lightning, slow loves dart, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She kils, but ere we feele the smart. | 9 | ········· |
| Oh, she is constant as the winde, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That revels in an ev'nings aire! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Certaine as wayes unto the blinde, | 8 | ········ |
| More reall then her flatt'ries are; | 6 | ······ |
| Gentle as chaines that honour binde, | 8 | /˘···/˘· |
| More faithfull then an Hebrew Jew, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But as the divel not halfe so true. | 9 | ···˘/···· |
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