Elizabeth of Bohemia
You meaner beauties of the night,That poorly satisfy our eyesMore by your number than your light,You common people of the skies;What are you when the moon shall rise?
You curious chanters of the wood,That warble forth Dime Nature’s lays,Thinking your passions understoodBy your weak accents; what’s your praiseWhen Philomel her voice shall raise?
You violets that first appear,By your pure purple mantles knownLike the proud virgins of the year,As if the spring were all your own;What are you when the rose is blown?
So, when my mistress shall be seenIn form and beauty of her mind,By virtue first, then choice, a Queen,Tell me, if she were not design’dTh’ eclipse and glory of her kind.
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,]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- warble v. t.
- To sing in a trilling, quavering, or vibratory manner; to modulate with turns or variations; to trill; as, certain birds are remarkable for warbling their songs. [OE. werbelen, OF. werbler; of Teutonic origin; cf. G. wirbeln to turn, to warble, D. wervelen, akin to E. whirl. See Whirl.]
- dime n.
- A silver coin of the United States, of the value of ten cents; the tenth of a dollar. Dime novel, a novel, commonly sensational and trashy, which is sold for a dime, or ten cents. [F. dîme tithe, OF. disme, fr. L. decimus the tenth, fr. decem ten. See Decimal.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Elizabeth of Bohemia 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 Henry Wotton, Elizabeth of Bohemia, in Poems (1568–1639), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-sir-henry-wotton/elizabeth-of-bohemia.html, id L16000.
Form and metre
Elizabeth of Bohemia is 20 lines in 4 stanzas of 5 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 30% 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 ABABB nightA · eyesB · lightA · skiesB · riseB
- 2 ABABB woodA · laysB · understoodA · praiseB · raiseB
- 3 ABABB appearA · knownB · yearA · ownB · blownB
- 4 ABABB seenA · mindB · queenA · design'dB · kindB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| You meaner beauties of the night, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| That poorly satisfy our eyes | 8 | ·/˘/˘·/· |
| More by your number than your light, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| You common people of the skies; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| What are you when the moon shall rise? | 8 | ········ |
| You curious chanters of the wood, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That warble forth Dime Nature’s lays, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Thinking your passions understood | 8 | /˘·/˘·˘/ |
| By your weak accents; what’s your praise | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| When Philomel her voice shall raise? | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| You violets that first appear, | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| By your pure purple mantles known | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Like the proud virgins of the year, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As if the spring were all your own; | 8 | ········ |
| What are you when the rose is blown? | 8 | ········ |
| So, when my mistress shall be seen | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In form and beauty of her mind, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| By virtue first, then choice, a Queen, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Tell me, if she were not design’d | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Th’ eclipse and glory of her kind. | 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.