Salve!
To live within a cave--it is most good;But, if God make a day,And some one come, and say,‘Lo! I have gather’d faggots in the wood!’E’en let him stay,And light a fire, and fan a temporal mood!
So sit till morning! when the light is grownThat he the path can read,Then bid the man God-speed!His morning is not thine: yet must thou ownThey have a cheerful warmth--those ashes on the stone.
_793_. _My Garden_
A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!Rose plot,Fringed pool,Fern’d grot--The veriest schoolOf peace; and yet the foolContends that God is not--Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?Nay, but I have a sign;’Tis very sure God walks in mine.
About this text
Salve! 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 Edward Brown, Salve!, in Poems (1830–1897), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-thomas-edward-brown/salve.html, id L16244.
Form and metre
Salve! is 22 lines in 4 stanzas. 98% 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. 23% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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 ABBAB- goodA · dayB · sayB · woodA · stayB · mood
- 2 ABBAA grownA · readB · speedB · ownA · stoneA
- 4 ABCACCBCDD wotA · plotB · poolC · grotA · schoolC · foolC · notB · coolC · signD · mineD
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| To live within a cave--it is most good; | 10 | ·········· |
| But, if God make a day, | 6 | ······ |
| And some one come, and say, | 6 | ······ |
| ‘Lo! I have gather’d faggots in the wood!’ | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| E’en let him stay, | 4 | ···· |
| And light a fire, and fan a temporal mood! | 12 | ···/˘···/˘˘· |
| So sit till morning! when the light is grown | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| That he the path can read, | 6 | ······ |
| Then bid the man God-speed! | 6 | ······ |
| His morning is not thine: yet must thou own | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| They have a cheerful warmth--those ashes on the stone. | 12 | ···/˘··/˘··· |
| _793_. _My Garden_ | 3 | ·/˘ |
| A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot! | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Rose plot, | 2 | ·· |
| Fringed pool, | 2 | ·· |
| Fern’d grot-- | 2 | ·· |
| The veriest school | 4 | ···· |
| Of peace; and yet the fool | 6 | ······ |
| Contends that God is not-- | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool? | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Nay, but I have a sign; | 6 | ······ |
| ’Tis very sure God walks in mine. | 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.