Song
Love in fantastic triumph sateWhilst bleeding hearts around him flow’d,For whom fresh pains he did createAnd strange tyrannic power he show’d:From thy bright eyes he took his fires,Which round about in sport he hurl’d;But ’twas from mine he took desiresEnough t’ undo the amorous world.
From me he took his sighs and tears,From thee his pride and cruelty;From me his languishments and fears,And every killing dart from thee.Thus thou and I the god have arm’dAnd set him up a deity;But my poor heart alone is harm’d,Whilst thine the victor is, and free!
Words in this poem
- sate v. t.
- To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
- tyrannic a.
- Of or pertaining to a tyrant; suiting a tyrant; unjustly severe in government; absolute; imperious; despotic; cruel; arbitrary; as, a tyrannical prince; a tyrannical master; tyrannical government. [L. tyrannicus, Gr. tyrannique. See Tyrant.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song 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: Aphra Behn, Song, in Poems (1640–1689), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-aphra-behn/song.html, id L16130.
Form and metre
Song is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.1 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 ABABCDCD sateA · flow'dB · createA · show'dB · firesC · hurl'dD · desiresC · worldD
- 2 A-ABC-CB tearsA · cruelty · fearsA · theeB · arm'dC · deity · harm'dC · freeB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Love in fantastic triumph sate | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| Whilst bleeding hearts around him flow’d, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| For whom fresh pains he did create | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And strange tyrannic power he show’d: | 8 | ·····/·· |
| From thy bright eyes he took his fires, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Which round about in sport he hurl’d; | 8 | ········ |
| But ’twas from mine he took desires | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Enough t’ undo the amorous world. | 9 | ˘/·˘/·/˘· |
| From me he took his sighs and tears, | 8 | ········ |
| From thee his pride and cruelty; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| From me his languishments and fears, | 8 | ········ |
| And every killing dart from thee. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Thus thou and I the god have arm’d | 8 | ········ |
| And set him up a deity; | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| But my poor heart alone is harm’d, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Whilst thine the victor is, and free! | 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.