Love’s Emblems
Now the lusty spring is seen;Golden yellow, gaudy blue,Daintily invite the view:Everywhere on every greenRoses blushing as they blow,And enticing men to pull,Lilies whiter than the snow,Woodbines of sweet honey full:All love’s emblems, and all cry,‘Ladies, if not pluck’d, we die.’
Yet the lusty spring hath stay’d;Blushing red and purest whiteDaintily to love inviteEvery woman, every maid:Cherries kissing as they grow,And inviting men to taste,Apples even ripe below,Winding gently to the waist:All love’s emblems, and all cry,‘Ladies, if not pluck’d, we die.’
Words in this poem
- daintily adv.
- In a dainty manner; nicely; scrupulously; fastidiously; deliciously; prettily.
- inviting a.
- Alluring; tempting; as, an inviting amusement or prospect.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Love’s Emblems 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: John Fletcher, Love’s Emblems, in Poems (1579–1625), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-john-fletcher/loves-emblems.html, id L16025.
Form and metre
Love’s Emblems is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABBACDCDEE. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 15% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 ABBACDCDEE seenA · blueB · viewB · greenA · blowC · pullD · snowC · fullD · cryE · dieE
- 2 ABBACDCDEE stay'dA · whiteB · inviteB · maidA · growC · tasteD · belowC · waistD · cryE · dieE
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Now the lusty spring is seen; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Golden yellow, gaudy blue, | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Daintily invite the view: | 7 | /˘˘˘/·· |
| Everywhere on every green | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Roses blushing as they blow, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| And enticing men to pull, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Lilies whiter than the snow, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Woodbines of sweet honey full: | 7 | ····/˘· |
| All love’s emblems, and all cry, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| ‘Ladies, if not pluck’d, we die.’ | 7 | /˘····· |
| Yet the lusty spring hath stay’d; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Blushing red and purest white | 7 | /˘··/˘· |
| Daintily to love invite | 7 | /˘˘··˘/ |
| Every woman, every maid: | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Cherries kissing as they grow, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| And inviting men to taste, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Apples even ripe below, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Winding gently to the waist: | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| All love’s emblems, and all cry, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| ‘Ladies, if not pluck’d, we die.’ | 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.