Valiant Love
Now fie upon that everlasting life! I dye!She hates! Ah me! It makes me mad;As if love fir'd his torch at a moist eye,Or with his joyes e're crown'd the sad.Oh, let me live and shout, when I fall on;Let me ev'n triumph in the first attempt!Loves duellist from conquest 's not exempt,When his fair murdresse shall not gain one groan,And he expire ev'n in ovation.
Let me make my approach, when I lye downeWith counter-wrought and travers eyes;With peals of confidence batter the towne;Had ever beggar yet the keyes?No, I will vary stormes with sun and winde;Be rough, and offer calme condition;March in and pread, or starve the garrison.Let her make sallies hourely: yet I'le find(Though all beat of) shee's to be undermin'd.
Then may it please your little excellenceOf hearts t' ordaine, by sound of lips,That henceforth none in tears dare love comence(Her thoughts ith' full, his, in th' eclipse);On paine of having 's launce broke on her bed,That he be branded all free beauties' slave,And his own hollow eyes be domb'd his grave:Since in your hoast that coward nere was fed,Who to his prostrate ere was prostrated.Then, Love, I beg, when next thou tak'st thy bow,
Thy angry shafts, and dost heart-chasing go,Passe RASCALL DEARE, strike me the largest doe.
"And where that ye come in playne or in place,I shall you tell whyche ben bestys of enchace.One of them is the bucke: a nother is the doo:The foxe and the marteron: and the wylde roo.And ye shall, my dere chylde, other bestys all,Where so ye theym finde, Rascall ye shall them call."
Divine Destroyer, pitty me no more,Or else more pitty me;Give me more love, ah, quickly give me more,Or else more cruelty!For left thus as I am,My heart is ice and flame;And languishing thus, ICan neither live nor dye!
Your glories are eclipst, and hidden in the graveOf this indifferency;And, Caelia, you can neither altars have,Nor I, a Diety:They are aspects divine,That still or smile, or shine,Or, like th' offended sky,Frowne death immediately.
"Give me more Love, or more Disdain,The Torrid, or the Frozen Zone,Bring equall ease unto my paine;The Temperate affords me none:Either extreme, of Love, or Hate,Is sweeter than a calme estate."Carew's POEMS, ed. 1651, p. 14.
"So much of absence and delay,That thus afflicts my memorie.Why dost thou kill me every day,Yet will not give me leave to die?"
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- ovation n.
- A lesser kind of triumph allowed to a commander for an easy, bloodless victory, or a victory over slaves. [L. ovatio, fr. ovare to exult, rejoice, triumph in an ovation; cf. Gr. ovation.]
- travers adv.
- Across; athwart. [F. travers, breadth, extent from side, à travers, en travers, de travers, across, athwart. See Traverse, a.]
- henceforth adv.
- From this time forward; henceforward.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
- passe a.
- Past; gone by; hence, past one's prime; worn; faded; as, a passée belle. Ld. Lytton. [F.]
- rascall n.
- One of the rabble; a low, common sort of person or creature; collectively, the rabble; the common herd; also, a lean, ill- conditioned beast, esp. a deer. [OE. rascaille rabble, probably from an OF. racaille, F. racaille the rabble, rubbish, probably akin to F. racler to scrape, (assumed) LL. rasiculare, rasicare, ]
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- dere v. t.
- To hurt; to harm; to injure. [AS. derian to hurt.]
- indifferency n.
- Absence of interest in, or influence from, anything; unconcernedness; equilibrium; indifferentism; indifference.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Valiant Love 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, Valiant Love, in Lucasta (1649), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #703, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lovelace-lucasta/valiant-love.html, id L13023.
Form and metre
Valiant Love is 63 lines in 9 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 85%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.8 syllables. 8 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 pentameter.
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 ABABCDDCC dyeA · madB · eyeA · sadB · onC · attemptD · exemptD · groanC · ovationC
- 2 A-A-BAABB downeA · eyes · towneA · keyes · windeB · conditionA · garrisonA · findB · undermin'dB
- 3 ABABCDDCC- excellenceA · lipsB · comenceA · eclipseB · bedC · slaveD · graveD · fedC · prostratedC · bow
- 4 AA goA · doeA
- 5 AA--BB placeA · enchaceA · doo · roo · allB · callB
- 6 A-A---BB moreA · me · moreA · cruelty · am · flame · iB · dyeB
- 7 A-A-BB-- graveA · indifferency · haveA · diety · divineB · shineB · sky · immediately
- 8 A-A-BB- disdainA · zone · paineA · none · hateB · estateB · —
- 9 A-A- delayA · memorie · dayA · die
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now fie upon that everlasting life! I dye! | 12 | ······˘/˘··· |
| She hates! Ah me! It makes me mad; | 8 | ········ |
| As if love fir'd his torch at a moist eye, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Or with his joyes e're crown'd the sad. | 8 | ········ |
| Oh, let me live and shout, when I fall on; | 10 | ·········· |
| Let me ev'n triumph in the first attempt! | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Loves duellist from conquest 's not exempt, | 10 | ····/˘··˘/ |
| When his fair murdresse shall not gain one groan, | 10 | ·········· |
| And he expire ev'n in ovation. | 9 | ··˘/··˘/˘ |
| Let me make my approach, when I lye downe | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| With counter-wrought and travers eyes; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| With peals of confidence batter the towne; | 10 | ···/˘˘/˘·· |
| Had ever beggar yet the keyes? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| No, I will vary stormes with sun and winde; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Be rough, and offer calme condition; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| March in and pread, or starve the garrison. | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| Let her make sallies hourely: yet I'le find | 12 | ···/˘······· |
| (Though all beat of) shee's to be undermin'd. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Then may it please your little excellence | 10 | ·····/˘/˘˘ |
| Of hearts t' ordaine, by sound of lips, | 9 | ········· |
| That henceforth none in tears dare love comence | 10 | ·//······· |
| (Her thoughts ith' full, his, in th' eclipse); | 8 | ······˘/ |
| On paine of having 's launce broke on her bed, | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| That he be branded all free beauties' slave, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| And his own hollow eyes be domb'd his grave: | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Since in your hoast that coward nere was fed, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Who to his prostrate ere was prostrated. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘˘ |
| Then, Love, I beg, when next thou tak'st thy bow, | 10 | ·········· |
| Thy angry shafts, and dost heart-chasing go, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| Passe RASCALL DEARE, strike me the largest doe. | 11 | ·//˘····/˘· |
| "And where that ye come in playne or in place, | 10 | ·········· |
| I shall you tell whyche ben bestys of enchace. | 11 | ··········· |
| One of them is the bucke: a nother is the doo: | 12 | ·······/˘··· |
| The foxe and the marteron: and the wylde roo. | 11 | ··········· |
| And ye shall, my dere chylde, other bestys all, | 11 | ······/˘··· |
| Where so ye theym finde, Rascall ye shall them call." | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| Divine Destroyer, pitty me no more, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Or else more pitty me; | 6 | ······ |
| Give me more love, ah, quickly give me more, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Or else more cruelty! | 5 | ···/˘ |
| For left thus as I am, | 6 | ······ |
| My heart is ice and flame; | 6 | ······ |
| And languishing thus, I | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Can neither live nor dye! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Your glories are eclipst, and hidden in the grave | 12 | ·/˘····/˘··· |
| Of this indifferency; | 7 | ··˘/˘˘˘ |
| And, Caelia, you can neither altars have, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Nor I, a Diety: | 5 | ····· |
| They are aspects divine, | 6 | ··/·˘/ |
| That still or smile, or shine, | 6 | ······ |
| Or, like th' offended sky, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Frowne death immediately. | 7 | ··˘/˘˘˘ |
| "Give me more Love, or more Disdain, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The Torrid, or the Frozen Zone, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Bring equall ease unto my paine; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Temperate affords me none: | 7 | ·/˘˘/·· |
| Either extreme, of Love, or Hate, | 8 | /˘˘/···· |
| Is sweeter than a calme estate." | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Carew's POEMS, ed. 1651, p. 14. | 6 | /˘/˘·· |
| "So much of absence and delay, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| That thus afflicts my memorie. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Why dost thou kill me every day, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Yet will not give me leave to die?" | 8 | ········ |
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.