The Wish
Well then! I now do plainly seeThis busy world and I shall ne’er agree.The very honey of all earthly joyDoes of all meats the soonest cloy;And they, methinks, deserve my pityWho for it can endure the stings,The crowd and buzz and murmurings,Of this great hive, the city.
Ah, yet, ere I descend to the graveMay I a small house and large garden have;And a few friends, and many books, both true,Both wise, and both delightful too!And since love ne’er will from me flee,A Mistress moderately fair,And good as guardian angels are,Only beloved and loving me.
O fountains! when in you shall IMyself eased of unpeaceful thoughts espy?O fields! O woods! when, when shall I be madeThe happy tenant of your shade?Here’s the spring-head of Pleasure’s flood:Here’s wealthy Nature’s treasury,Where all the riches lie that sheHas coin’d and stamp’d for good.
Pride and ambition hereOnly in far-fetch’d metaphors appear;Here nought but winds can hurtful murmurs scatter,And nought but Echo flatter.The gods, when they descended, hitherFrom heaven did always choose their way:And therefore we may boldly sayThat ’tis the way too thither.
How happy here should IAnd one dear She live, and embracing die!She who is all the world, and can excludeIn deserts solitude.I should have then this only fear:Lest men, when they my pleasures see,Should hither throng to live like me,And so make a city here.
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,]
- cloy v. t.
- To fill or choke up; to stop up; to clog. [OE. cloer to nail up, F. clouer, fr. OF. clo nail, F. clou, fr. L. clavus nail. Cf. 3d Clove.]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- boldly adv.
- In a bold manner. [AS. bealdlice.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Wish is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900, Project Gutenberg ebook #66619; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Abraham Cowley, The Wish, in Poems (1618–1667), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-abraham-cowley/the-wish.html, id L16101.
Form and metre
The Wish is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCDDC, complete in 3 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 9 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 30% 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 AABBCDDC seeA · agreeA · joyB · cloyB · pityC · stingsD · murmuringsD · cityC
- 2 AABBC--C graveA · haveA · trueB · tooB · fleeC · fair · are · meC
- 3 --AAB--B i · espy · madeA · shadeA · floodB · treasury · she · goodB
- 4 AABBCDDC hereA · appearA · scatterB · flatterB · hitherC · wayD · sayD · thitherC
- 5 AABBCDDC iA · dieA · excludeB · solitudeB · fearC · seeD · meD · hereC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Well then! I now do plainly see | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| This busy world and I shall ne’er agree. | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| The very honey of all earthly joy | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| Does of all meats the soonest cloy; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And they, methinks, deserve my pity | 9 | ··˘/˘/·/˘ |
| Who for it can endure the stings, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The crowd and buzz and murmurings, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Of this great hive, the city. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Ah, yet, ere I descend to the grave | 9 | ····˘/··· |
| May I a small house and large garden have; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And a few friends, and many books, both true, | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Both wise, and both delightful too! | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And since love ne’er will from me flee, | 8 | ········ |
| A Mistress moderately fair, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘˘· |
| And good as guardian angels are, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Only beloved and loving me. | 8 | /˘˘/·/˘· |
| O fountains! when in you shall I | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Myself eased of unpeaceful thoughts espy? | 11 | ·/·······/˘ |
| O fields! O woods! when, when shall I be made | 10 | ·········· |
| The happy tenant of your shade? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Here’s the spring-head of Pleasure’s flood: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Here’s wealthy Nature’s treasury, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘˘ |
| Where all the riches lie that she | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Has coin’d and stamp’d for good. | 6 | ······ |
| Pride and ambition here | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Only in far-fetch’d metaphors appear; | 9 | /˘···/˘˘/ |
| Here nought but winds can hurtful murmurs scatter, | 11 | ·····/˘/˘/˘ |
| And nought but Echo flatter. | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The gods, when they descended, hither | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| From heaven did always choose their way: | 8 | ·/·/···· |
| And therefore we may boldly say | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That ’tis the way too thither. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| How happy here should I | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And one dear She live, and embracing die! | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| She who is all the world, and can exclude | 10 | ········˘/ |
| In deserts solitude. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| I should have then this only fear: | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Lest men, when they my pleasures see, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Should hither throng to live like me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And so make a city here. | 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.