To Chloris
Ah, Chloris! that I now could sitAs unconcern’d as whenYour infant beauty could begetNo pleasure, nor no pain!When I the dawn used to admire,And praised the coming day,I little thought the growing fireMust take my rest away.
Your charms in harmless childhood layLike metals in the mine;Age from no face took more awayThan youth conceal’d in thine.But as your charms insensiblyTo their perfection prest,Fond love as unperceived did fly,And in my bosom rest.
My passion with your beauty grew,And Cupid at my heart,Still as his mother favour’d you,Threw a new flaming dart:Each gloried in their wanton part;To make a lover, heEmploy’d the utmost of his art--To make a beauty, she.
Words in this poem
- admire v. t.
- To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
- childhood n.
- The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
- insensibly adv.
- In a manner not to be felt or perceived; imperceptibly; gradually.
- prest a.
- Ready; prompt; prepared. [OF. prest, F. prêt, fr. L. praestus ready. Cf. Presto.]
- cupid
- The god of love, son of Venus; usually represented as a naked, winged boy with bow and arrow. [L.Cupido, fr. cupido desire, desire of love, fr. cupidus. See Cupidity.]
- gloried a.
- Illustrious; honorable; noble. [See Glory.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Chloris 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: Sir Charles Sedley, To Chloris, in Poems (1639–1701), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-sir-charles-sedley/to-chloris.html, id L16128.
Form and metre
To Chloris is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 99% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.0 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 33% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 sit · when · beget · pain · admireA · dayB · fireA · awayB
- 2 ABAB-C-C layA · mineB · awayA · thineB · insensibly · prestC · fly · restC
- 3 ABABBCBC grewA · heartB · youA · dartB · partB · heC · artB · sheC
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Ah, Chloris! that I now could sit | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| As unconcern’d as when | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Your infant beauty could beget | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| No pleasure, nor no pain! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| When I the dawn used to admire, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And praised the coming day, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I little thought the growing fire | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Must take my rest away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Your charms in harmless childhood lay | 8 | ···/˘/·· |
| Like metals in the mine; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Age from no face took more away | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Than youth conceal’d in thine. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| But as your charms insensibly | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| To their perfection prest, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Fond love as unperceived did fly, | 8 | ········ |
| And in my bosom rest. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| My passion with your beauty grew, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And Cupid at my heart, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Still as his mother favour’d you, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Threw a new flaming dart: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Each gloried in their wanton part; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To make a lover, he | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Employ’d the utmost of his art-- | 8 | ˘/·/···· |
| To make a beauty, she. | 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.