The Reconcilement
Come, let us now resolve at lastTo live and love in quiet;We’ll tie the knot so very fastThat Time shall ne’er untie it.
The truest joys they seldom proveWho free from quarrels live:’Tis the most tender part of loveEach other to forgive.
When least I seem’d concern’d, I tookNo pleasure nor no rest;And when I feign’d an angry look,Alas! I loved you best.
Own but the same to me--you’ll findHow blest will be our fate.O to be happy--to be kind--Sure never is too late!
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- angry a.
- Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Reconcilement 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 Sheffield, Duke of Buckinghamshire, The Reconcilement, in Poems (1649–1720), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-john-sheffield-duke-of-buckinghamshire/the-reconcilement.html, id L16132.
Form and metre
The Reconcilement is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 38% 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.
- 1 ABAB lastA · quietB · fastA · itB
- 2 ABAB proveA · liveB · loveA · forgiveB
- 3 ABAB tookA · restB · lookA · bestB
- 4 ABAB findA · fateB · kindA · lateB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Come, let us now resolve at last | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To live and love in quiet; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| We’ll tie the knot so very fast | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That Time shall ne’er untie it. | 7 | ····˘/· |
| The truest joys they seldom prove | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who free from quarrels live: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| ’Tis the most tender part of love | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Each other to forgive. | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| When least I seem’d concern’d, I took | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| No pleasure nor no rest; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And when I feign’d an angry look, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Alas! I loved you best. | 7 | ˘/··˘·· |
| Own but the same to me--you’ll find | 8 | ········ |
| How blest will be our fate. | 7 | ····/˘· |
| O to be happy--to be kind-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sure never is too late! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.