To Chloris
In the nativity of time,Chloris! it was not thought a crimeIn direct Hebrew for to woe.Now wee make love, as all on fire,Ring retrograde our lowd desire,And court in English backward too.
Thrice happy was that golden age,When complement was constru'd rage,And fine words in the center hid;When cursed NO stain'd no maid's blisse,And all discourse was summ'd in YES,And nought forbad, but to forbid.
Love then unstinted love did sip,And cherries pluck'd fresh from the lip,On cheeks and roses free he fed;Lasses, like Autumne plums, did drop,And lads indifferently did dropA flower and a maiden-head.
Then unconfined each did tippleWine from the bunch, milk from the nipple;Paps tractable as udders were.Then equally the wholsome jelliesWere squeez'd from olive-trees and bellies:Nor suits of trespasse did they fear.
A fragrant bank of strawberries,Diaper'd with violets' eyes,Was table, table-cloth and fare;No palace to the clouds did swell,Each humble princesse then did dwellIn the Piazza of her hair.
Both broken faith and th' cause of it,All-damning gold, was damn'd to th' pit;Their troth seal'd with a clasp and kisse,Lasted until that extreem day,In which they smil'd their souls away,And in each other breath'd new blisse.
Because no fault, there was no tear;No grone did grate the granting ear,No false foul breath, their del'cat smell.No serpent kiss poyson'd the tast,Each touch was naturally chast,And their mere Sense a Miracle.
Naked as their own innocence,And unembroyder'd from offence,They went, above poor riches, gay;On softer than the cignet's down,In beds they tumbled off their own:For each within the other lay.
Thus did they live: thus did they love,Repeating only joyes above,And angels were but with cloaths on,Which they would put off cheerfully,To bathe them in the Galaxie,Then gird them with the heavenly zone.
Now, Chloris! miserably craveThe offer'd blisse you would not have,Which evermore I must deny:Whilst ravish'd with these noble dreams,And crowned with mine own soft beams,Injoying of my self I lye.
Words in this poem
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
- indifferently adv.
- In an indifferent manner; without distinction or preference; impartially; without concern, wish, affection, or aversion; tolerably; passably.
- princesse a.
- A term applied to a lady's long, close-fitting dress made with waist and skirt in one. [F., a princess.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- piazza n.
- An open square in a European town, especially an Italian town; hence (Arch.), an arcaded and roofed gallery; a portico. In the United States the word is popularly applied to a veranda. [It., place, square, market place, L. platea street, courtyard. See Place.]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- cheerfully adv.
- In a cheerful manner, gladly.
- miserably adv.
- In a miserable; unhappily; calamitously; wretchedly; meanly.
- crave v. t.
- To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore. [AS. crafian; akin to Icel. krefia, Sw. kr, Dan. kr.]
- evermore adv.
- During eternity; always; forever; for an indefinite period; at all times; -- often used substantively with for.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Chloris 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, To Chloris, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/to-chloris.html, id L13042.
Form and metre
To Chloris is 60 lines in 10 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABCCB, complete in 5 of its 10 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% 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 AA-BB- timeA · crimeA · woe · fireB · desireB · too
- 2 AAB--B ageA · rageA · hidB · blisse · yes · forbidB
- 3 AABCCB sipA · lipA · fedB · dropC · dropC · headB
- 4 AA-BB- tippleA · nippleA · were · jelliesB · belliesB · fear
- 5 AABCCB strawberriesA · eyesA · fareB · swellC · dwellC · hairB
- 6 AABCCB itA · pitA · kisseB · dayC · awayC · blisseB
- 7 AABCCB tearA · earA · smellB · tastC · chastC · miracleB
- 8 AAB--B innocenceA · offenceA · gayB · down · own · layB
- 9 AA---- loveA · aboveA · on · cheerfully · galaxie · zone
- 10 AABCCB craveA · haveA · denyB · dreamsC · beamsC · lyeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| In the nativity of time, | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Chloris! it was not thought a crime | 8 | /˘······ |
| In direct Hebrew for to woe. | 8 | ·˘//˘··· |
| Now wee make love, as all on fire, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Ring retrograde our lowd desire, | 9 | ·/˘·/·˘/˘ |
| And court in English backward too. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thrice happy was that golden age, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| When complement was constru'd rage, | 8 | ·/˘˘·˘/· |
| And fine words in the center hid; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| When cursed NO stain'd no maid's blisse, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| And all discourse was summ'd in YES, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| And nought forbad, but to forbid. | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| Love then unstinted love did sip, | 8 | ········ |
| And cherries pluck'd fresh from the lip, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On cheeks and roses free he fed; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Lasses, like Autumne plums, did drop, | 8 | /˘······ |
| And lads indifferently did drop | 9 | ··˘/˘˘˘·· |
| A flower and a maiden-head. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Then unconfined each did tipple | 8 | ··˘/··/˘ |
| Wine from the bunch, milk from the nipple; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Paps tractable as udders were. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Then equally the wholsome jellies | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| Were squeez'd from olive-trees and bellies: | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Nor suits of trespasse did they fear. | 8 | ········ |
| A fragrant bank of strawberries, | 8 | ·/˘··/·˘ |
| Diaper'd with violets' eyes, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Was table, table-cloth and fare; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| No palace to the clouds did swell, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Each humble princesse then did dwell | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| In the Piazza of her hair. | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Both broken faith and th' cause of it, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All-damning gold, was damn'd to th' pit; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Their troth seal'd with a clasp and kisse, | 8 | ········ |
| Lasted until that extreem day, | 8 | /˘······ |
| In which they smil'd their souls away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And in each other breath'd new blisse. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Because no fault, there was no tear; | 8 | ········ |
| No grone did grate the granting ear, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| No false foul breath, their del'cat smell. | 8 | ········ |
| No serpent kiss poyson'd the tast, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Each touch was naturally chast, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| And their mere Sense a Miracle. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Naked as their own innocence, | 8 | /˘···/˘˘ |
| And unembroyder'd from offence, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| They went, above poor riches, gay; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| On softer than the cignet's down, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In beds they tumbled off their own: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| For each within the other lay. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Thus did they live: thus did they love, | 8 | ········ |
| Repeating only joyes above, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| And angels were but with cloaths on, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which they would put off cheerfully, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| To bathe them in the Galaxie, | 8 | ········ |
| Then gird them with the heavenly zone. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Now, Chloris! miserably crave | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘· |
| The offer'd blisse you would not have, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Which evermore I must deny: | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Whilst ravish'd with these noble dreams, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And crowned with mine own soft beams, | 8 | ··˘····· |
| Injoying of my self I lye. | 7 | ······· |
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.