Mimnermus in Church
You promise heavens free from strife,Pure truth, and perfect change of will;But sweet, sweet is this human life,So sweet, I fain would breathe it still;Your chilly stars I can forgo,This warm kind world is all I know.
You say there is no substance here,One great reality above:Back from that void I shrink in fear,And child-like hide myself in love:Show me what angels feel. Till thenI cling, a mere weak man, to men.
You bid me lift my mean desiresFrom faltering lips and fitful veinsTo sexless souls, ideal quires,Unwearied voices, wordless strains:My mind with fonder welcome ownsOne dear dead friend’s remember’d tones.
Forsooth the present we must giveTo that which cannot pass away;All beauteous things for which we liveBy laws of time and space decay.But O, the very reason whyI clasp them, is because they die.
Words in this poem
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- forgo v. t.
- To pass by; to leave. See 1st Forego. [OE. forgan, forgon, forgoon, AS. forgan, prop., to go past, hence, to abstain from; pref. for- + gan to go; akin to G. vergehen to pass away, to transgress. See]
- faltering a.
- Hesitating; trembling.
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
- unwearied a.
- Not wearied; not fatigued or tired; hence, persistent; not tiring or wearying; indefatigable.
- wordless a.
- Not using words; not speaking; silent; speechless.
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- beauteous a.
- Full of beauty; beautiful; very handsome. [Mostly poetic] -- Beau"te*ous*ly, adv. --
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mimnermus in Church 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: William (johnson) Cory, Mimnermus in Church, in Poems (1823–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-william-johnson-cory/mimnermus-in-church.html, id L16232.
Form and metre
Mimnermus in Church is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCC, complete in 3 of its 4 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.0 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 29% 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 ABABCC strifeA · willB · lifeA · stillB · forgoC · knowC
- 2 ABABCC hereA · aboveB · fearA · loveB · thenC · menC
- 3 -A-ABB desires · veinsA · quires · strainsA · ownsB · tonesB
- 4 ABABCC giveA · awayB · liveA · decayB · whyC · dieC
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 promise heavens free from strife, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Pure truth, and perfect change of will; | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| But sweet, sweet is this human life, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So sweet, I fain would breathe it still; | 8 | ········ |
| Your chilly stars I can forgo, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| This warm kind world is all I know. | 8 | ········ |
| You say there is no substance here, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| One great reality above: | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Back from that void I shrink in fear, | 8 | ········ |
| And child-like hide myself in love: | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Show me what angels feel. Till then | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I cling, a mere weak man, to men. | 8 | ········ |
| You bid me lift my mean desires | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| From faltering lips and fitful veins | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| To sexless souls, ideal quires, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/· |
| Unwearied voices, wordless strains: | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| My mind with fonder welcome owns | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| One dear dead friend’s remember’d tones. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Forsooth the present we must give | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| To that which cannot pass away; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| All beauteous things for which we live | 9 | ·/˘˘····· |
| By laws of time and space decay. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| But O, the very reason why | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| I clasp them, is because they die. | 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.