Poems
Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers?O sweet content!Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplex’d?O punishment!Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vex’dTo add to golden numbers golden numbers?O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content!Work apace, apace, apace, apace;Honest labour bears a lovely face;Then hey nonny nonny--hey nonny nonny!
Canst drink the waters of the crispèd spring?O sweet content!Swim’st thou in wealth, yet sink’st in thine own tears?O punishment!Then he that patiently want’s burden bears,No burden bears, but is a king, a king!O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content!Work apace, apace, apace, apace;Honest labour bears a lovely face;Then hey nonny nonny--hey nonny nonny!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- apace adv.
- With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
- nonny n.
- A silly fellow; a ninny.
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- patiently adv.
- In a patient manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poems 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: Thomas Dekker, Poems, (1575–1641), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-thomas-dekker/sweet-content.html, id L16017.
Form and metre
Sweet Content is 20 lines in 2 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is trochaic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 91% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.6 syllables. 10 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic pentameter.
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 ABC-CABDD- slumbersA · contentB · perplex'dC · punishment · vex'dC · numbersA · contentB · apaceD · faceD · nonny
- 2 ABC-CABDD- springA · contentB · tearsC · punishment · bearsC · kingA · contentB · apaceD · faceD · nonny
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers? | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| O sweet content! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplex’d? | 9 | ·······˘/ |
| O punishment! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vex’d | 9 | ········· |
| To add to golden numbers golden numbers? | 11 | ···/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content! | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Work apace, apace, apace, apace; | 9 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘/ |
| Honest labour bears a lovely face; | 9 | /˘/···/˘· |
| Then hey nonny nonny--hey nonny nonny! | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
| Canst drink the waters of the crispèd spring? | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| O sweet content! | 4 | ··/˘ |
| Swim’st thou in wealth, yet sink’st in thine own tears? | 10 | ·········· |
| O punishment! | 4 | ·/˘˘ |
| Then he that patiently want’s burden bears, | 10 | ···/˘˘·/˘· |
| No burden bears, but is a king, a king! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content! | 10 | ··/˘····/˘ |
| Work apace, apace, apace, apace; | 9 | ·˘/˘/˘/˘/ |
| Honest labour bears a lovely face; | 9 | /˘/···/˘· |
| Then hey nonny nonny--hey nonny nonny! | 11 | ··/˘/˘·/˘/˘ |
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.