A Contemplation upon Flowers
Brave flowers--that I could gallant it like you,And be as little vain!You come abroad, and make a harmless show,And to your beds of earth again.You are not proud: you know your birth:For your embroider’d garments are from earth.
You do obey your months and times, but IWould have it ever Spring:My fate would know no Winter, never die,Nor think of such a thing.O that I could my bed of earth but viewAnd smile, and look as cheerfully as you!
O teach me to see Death and not to fear,But rather to take truce!How often have I seen you at a bier,And there look fresh and spruce!You fragrant flowers! then teach me, that my breathLike yours may sweeten and perfume my death.
Words in this poem
- cheerfully adv.
- In a cheerful manner, gladly.
- bier n.
- A handbarrow or portable frame on which a corpse is placed or borne to the grave. [OE. bæe, beere, AS. b, b; akin to D. baar, OHG. bara, G. bahre, Icel barar, Dbaare, L. feretrum, Gr. , from the same bear to produce. See 1st Bear, and cf. Barr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Contemplation upon Flowers 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: Henry King, Bishop of Chichester, A Contemplation upon Flowers, in Poems (1592–1669), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-henry-king-bishop-of-chichester/a-contemplation-upon-flowers.html, id L16060.
Form and metre
A Contemplation upon Flowers is 18 lines in 3 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.7 syllables. 17% 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 -A-ABB you · vainA · show · againA · birthB · earthB
- 2 ABABCC iA · springB · dieA · thingB · viewC · youC
- 3 ABABCC fearA · truceB · bierA · spruceB · breathC · deathC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Brave flowers--that I could gallant it like you, | 10 | ·/···/˘··· |
| And be as little vain! | 6 | ···/˘· |
| You come abroad, and make a harmless show, | 10 | ··˘/···/˘· |
| And to your beds of earth again. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| You are not proud: you know your birth: | 8 | ········ |
| For your embroider’d garments are from earth. | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘··· |
| You do obey your months and times, but I | 10 | ··˘/······ |
| Would have it ever Spring: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| My fate would know no Winter, never die, | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Nor think of such a thing. | 6 | ······ |
| O that I could my bed of earth but view | 10 | ·········· |
| And smile, and look as cheerfully as you! | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| O teach me to see Death and not to fear, | 10 | ·········· |
| But rather to take truce! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| How often have I seen you at a bier, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And there look fresh and spruce! | 6 | ······ |
| You fragrant flowers! then teach me, that my breath | 10 | ·/˘/······ |
| Like yours may sweeten and perfume my death. | 10 | ···/˘·˘/·· |
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.