As ye came from the Holy Land

iambic tetrameter · 45 lines · from Poems

16th Cent.

As ye came from the holy landOf Walsinghame,Met you not with my true loveBy the way as you came?

How should I know your true love,That have met many a oneAs I came from the holy land,That have come, that have gone?

She is neither white nor brown,But as the heavens fair;There is none hath her form divineIn the earth or the air.

Such a one did I meet, good sir,Such an angelic face,Who like a nymph, like a queen, did appearIn her gait, in her grace.

She hath left me here aloneAll alone, as unknown,Who sometime did me lead with herself,And me loved as her own.

What’s the cause that she leaves you aloneAnd a new way doth take,That sometime did love you as her own,And her joy did you make?

I have loved her all my youth,But now am old, as you see:Love likes not the falling fruit,Nor the withered tree.

Know that Love is a careless child,And forgets promise past:He is blind, he is deaf when he list,And in faith never fast.

His desire is a dureless content,And a trustless joy;He is won with a world of despair,And is lost with a toy.

Of womenkind such indeed is the love,Or the word love abusèd,Under which many childish desiresAnd conceits are excusèd.

But true love is a durable fire,In the mind ever burning,Never sick, never dead, never cold,From itself never turning.

Words in this poem

sometime adv.: At a past time indefinitely referred to; once; formerly.
dureless a.: Not lasting. Sir W. Raleigh.
trustless a.: That may not be trusted; not worthy of trust; unfaithful.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

As ye came from the Holy Land 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, As ye came from the Holy Land, in Poems, text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-anonymous-english/as-ye-came-from-the-holy-land.html, id L15895.

Form and metre

As ye came from the Holy Land is 45 lines in 12 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter. 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 5 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 18% 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.

2 -A-A land · walsinghame^A · love · came^A
4 -A-A brown · fair^A · divine · air^A
5 -A-A sir · face^A · appear · grace^A
6 AA-A alone^A · unknown^A · herself · own^A
7 ABAB alone^A · take^B · own^A · make^B
8 -A-A youth · see^A · fruit · tree^A
9 -A-A child · past^A · list · fast^A
10 -A-A content · joy^A · despair · toy^A
11 -A-A love · abusèd^A · desires · excusèd^A
12 -A-A fire · burning^A · cold · turning^A

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
16th Cent.	3	//·
As ye came from the holy land	8	·····/˘·
Of Walsinghame,	4	····
Met you not with my true love	7	·······
By the way as you came?	6	······
How should I know your true love,	7	·······
That have met many a one	7	···/˘··
As I came from the holy land,	8	·····/˘·
That have come, that have gone?	6	······
She is neither white nor brown,	7	··/˘···
But as the heavens fair;	6	···/˘·
There is none hath her form divine	8	······˘/
In the earth or the air.	6	······
Such a one did I meet, good sir,	8	········
Such an angelic face,	6	···/˘·
Who like a nymph, like a queen, did appear	10	········˘/
In her gait, in her grace.	6	······
She hath left me here alone	7	·····˘/
All alone, as unknown,	6	·˘/·˘/
Who sometime did me lead with herself,	9	·/·····˘/
And me loved as her own.	6	······
What’s the cause that she leaves you alone	9	·······˘/
And a new way doth take,	6	······
That sometime did love you as her own,	9	·/·······
And her joy did you make?	6	······
I have loved her all my youth,	7	·······
But now am old, as you see:	7	·······
Love likes not the falling fruit,	7	····/˘·
Nor the withered tree.	5	··/˘·
Know that Love is a careless child,	8	·····/˘·
And forgets promise past:	6	·˘//˘·
He is blind, he is deaf when he list,	9	·········
And in faith never fast.	6	···/˘·
His desire is a dureless content,	10	·˘/˘··/˘/˘
And a trustless joy;	5	··/˘·
He is won with a world of despair,	9	·······˘/
And is lost with a toy.	6	······
Of womenkind such indeed is the love,	10	·····˘/···
Or the word love abusèd,	6	······
Under which many childish desires	10	···/˘/˘˘/˘
And conceits are excusèd.	6	·˘/···
But true love is a durable fire,	10	·····/˘˘/˘
In the mind ever burning,	7	···/˘/˘
Never sick, never dead, never cold,	9	/˘·/˘·/˘·
From itself never turning.	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.

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