A Doubt of Martyrdom
O for some honest lover’s ghost,Some kind unbodied postSent from the shades below!I strangely long to knowWhether the noble chaplets wearThose that their mistress’ scorn did bearOr those that were used kindly.
For whatsoe’er they tell us hereTo make those sufferings dear,’Twill there, I fear, be foundThat to the being crown’dT’ have loved alone will not suffice,Unless we also have been wiseAnd have our loves enjoy’d.
What posture can we think him inThat, here unloved, againDeparts, and ’s thither goneWhere each sits by his own?Or how can that Elysium beWhere I my mistress still must seeCircled in other’s arms?
For there the judges all are just,And Sophonisba mustBe his whom she held dear,Not his who loved her here.The sweet Philoclea, since she died,Lies by her Pirocles his side,Not by Amphialus.
Some bays, perchance, or myrtle boughFor difference crowns the browOf those kind souls that wereThe noble martyrs here:And if that be the only odds(As who can tell?), ye kinder gods,Give me the woman here!
Words in this poem
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- strangely adv.
- As something foreign, or not one's own; in a manner adapted to something foreign and strange.
- twill v. i.
- To weave, as cloth, so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface. [Scotch tweel; probably from LG. twillen to make double, from twi- two; akin to AS. twi-, E. twi- in twilight. See Twice, and cf. Tweed, Tweel.]
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- elysium n.
- A dwelling place assigned to happy souls after death; the seat of future happiness; Paradise.
- circled a.
- Having the form of a circle; round.
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Doubt of Martyrdom 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 John Suckling, A Doubt of Martyrdom, in Poems (1609–1642), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-sir-john-suckling/a-doubt-of-martyrdom.html, id L16086.
Form and metre
A Doubt of Martyrdom is 35 lines in 5 stanzas of 7 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 74% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.9 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 51% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCC- ghostA · postA · belowB · knowB · wearC · bearC · kindly
- 2 AABB--- hereA · dearA · foundB · crown'dB · suffice · wise · enjoy'd
- 3 AAAABB- inA · againA · goneA · ownA · beB · seeB · arms
- 4 AABBCC- justA · mustA · dearB · hereB · diedC · sideC · amphialus
- 5 AA-BCCB boughA · browA · were · hereB · oddsC · godsC · hereB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| O for some honest lover’s ghost, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Some kind unbodied post | 5 | ····· |
| Sent from the shades below! | 6 | ······ |
| I strangely long to know | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Whether the noble chaplets wear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Those that their mistress’ scorn did bear | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or those that were used kindly. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| For whatsoe’er they tell us here | 7 | ······· |
| To make those sufferings dear, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| ’Twill there, I fear, be found | 6 | ······ |
| That to the being crown’d | 6 | ···/˘· |
| T’ have loved alone will not suffice, | 9 | ···˘/··˘/ |
| Unless we also have been wise | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And have our loves enjoy’d. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| What posture can we think him in | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That, here unloved, again | 6 | ··˘/˘/ |
| Departs, and ’s thither gone | 7 | ˘/··/˘· |
| Where each sits by his own? | 6 | ······ |
| Or how can that Elysium be | 9 | ····˘/˘˘· |
| Where I my mistress still must see | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Circled in other’s arms? | 6 | /˘·/˘· |
| For there the judges all are just, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And Sophonisba must | 6 | ······ |
| Be his whom she held dear, | 6 | ······ |
| Not his who loved her here. | 6 | ······ |
| The sweet Philoclea, since she died, | 8 | ········ |
| Lies by her Pirocles his side, | 7 | ······· |
| Not by Amphialus. | 5 | ····· |
| Some bays, perchance, or myrtle bough | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| For difference crowns the brow | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Of those kind souls that were | 6 | ······ |
| The noble martyrs here: | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| And if that be the only odds | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| (As who can tell?), ye kinder gods, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Give me the woman here! | 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.