A Praise of His Lady
Tottel’s Miscellany, 1557
Give place, you ladies, and begone!Boast not yourselves at all!For here at hand approacheth oneWhose face will stain you all.
The virtue of her lively looksExcels the precious stone;I wish to have none other booksTo read or look upon.
In each of her two crystal eyesSmileth a naked boy;It would you all in heart sufficeTo see that lamp of joy.
I think Nature hath lost the mouldWhere she her shape did take;Or else I doubt if Nature couldSo fair a creature make.
She may be well comparedUnto the Phœnix kind,Whose like was never seen or heard,That any man can find.
In life she is Diana chaste,In troth Penelopey;In word and eke in deed steadfast.--What will you more we say?
If all the world were sought so far,Who could find such a wight?Her beauty twinkleth like a starWithin the frosty night.
Her rosial colour comes and goesWith such a comely grace,More ruddier, too, than doth the rose,Within her lively face.
At Bacchus’ feast none shall her meet,Ne at no wanton play,Nor gazing in an open street,Nor gadding as a stray.
The modest mirth that she doth useIs mix’d with shamefastness;All vice she doth wholly refuse,And hateth idleness.
O Lord! it is a world to seeHow virtue can repair,And deck in her such honesty,Whom Nature made so fair.
Truly she doth so far exceedOur women nowadays,As doth the jeliflower a weed;And more a thousand ways.
How might I do to get a graffOf this unspotted tree?--For all the rest are plain but chaff,Which seem good corn to be.
This gift alone I shall her give;When death doth what he can,Her honest fame shall ever liveWithin the mouth of man.
? by _John Heywood_
Words in this poem
- miscellany a.
- Miscellaneous; heterogeneous.
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- diana n.
- The daughter of Jupiter and Latona; a virgin goddess who presided over hunting, chastity, and marriage; -- identified with the Greek goddess Artemis. [L. Diana.]
- troth n.
- Belief; faith; fidelity. [A variant of truth. See Truth.]
- wight n.
- A whit; a bit; a jot. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. v]
- 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,]
- gadding a.
- Going about much, needlessly or without purpose.
- nowadays adv.
- In these days; at the present time. [For now on (OE. an) days. See A-, 1.]
- graff n.
- A steward; an overseer. [OE. grafe, greife, greive. Cf. Margrave.]
- unspotted a.
- Not spotted; free from spot or stain; especially, free from moral stain; unblemished; immaculate; as, an unspotted reputation.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Praise of His Lady 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: Anonymous, A Praise of His Lady, in Poems, text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-anonymous-english/a-praise-of-his-lady.html, id L15902.
Form and metre
A Praise of His Lady is 58 lines in 16 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 6 of the 16 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in common measure.
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.
- 2 -A-A begone · allA · one · allA
- 3 A-A- looksA · stone · booksA · upon
- 4 -A-A eyes · boyA · suffice · joyA
- 5 -A-A mould · takeA · could · makeA
- 6 -A-A compared · kindA · heard · findA
- 8 ABAB farA · wightB · starA · nightB
- 9 ABAB goesA · graceB · roseA · faceB
- 10 ABAB meetA · playB · streetA · strayB
- 11 A-AA useA · shamefastness · refuseA · idlenessA
- 12 -A-A see · repairA · honesty · fairA
- 13 ABAB exceedA · nowadaysB · weedA · waysB
- 14 ABAB graffA · treeB · chaffA · beB
- 15 ABAB giveA · canB · liveA · manB
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Tottel’s Miscellany, 1557 | 6 | ··/˘·˘ |
| Give place, you ladies, and begone! | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Boast not yourselves at all! | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| For here at hand approacheth one | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Whose face will stain you all. | 6 | ······ |
| The virtue of her lively looks | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Excels the precious stone; | 6 | ˘/·/˘· |
| I wish to have none other books | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To read or look upon. | 6 | ······ |
| In each of her two crystal eyes | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Smileth a naked boy; | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| It would you all in heart suffice | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To see that lamp of joy. | 6 | ······ |
| I think Nature hath lost the mould | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| Where she her shape did take; | 6 | ······ |
| Or else I doubt if Nature could | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So fair a creature make. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| She may be well compared | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Unto the Phœnix kind, | 6 | ······ |
| Whose like was never seen or heard, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That any man can find. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| In life she is Diana chaste, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In troth Penelopey; | 6 | ······ |
| In word and eke in deed steadfast. | 8 | ······/· |
| --What will you more we say? | 6 | ······ |
| If all the world were sought so far, | 8 | ········ |
| Who could find such a wight? | 6 | ······ |
| Her beauty twinkleth like a star | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘··· |
| Within the frosty night. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Her rosial colour comes and goes | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| With such a comely grace, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| More ruddier, too, than doth the rose, | 8 | ········ |
| Within her lively face. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| At Bacchus’ feast none shall her meet, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ne at no wanton play, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Nor gazing in an open street, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor gadding as a stray. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The modest mirth that she doth use | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Is mix’d with shamefastness; | 7 | ······· |
| All vice she doth wholly refuse, | 8 | ····/˘˘/ |
| And hateth idleness. | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| O Lord! it is a world to see | 8 | ········ |
| How virtue can repair, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| And deck in her such honesty, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Whom Nature made so fair. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Truly she doth so far exceed | 8 | /˘····˘/ |
| Our women nowadays, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| As doth the jeliflower a weed; | 9 | ········· |
| And more a thousand ways. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| How might I do to get a graff | 8 | ········ |
| Of this unspotted tree? | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| --For all the rest are plain but chaff, | 8 | ········ |
| Which seem good corn to be. | 6 | ······ |
| This gift alone I shall her give; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| When death doth what he can, | 6 | ······ |
| Her honest fame shall ever live | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Within the mouth of man. | 6 | ······ |
| ? by _John Heywood_ | 4 | ··/· |
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