Poems
I
Of all the flowers rising now,Thou only saw’st the headOf that unopen’d drop of snowI placed beside thy bed.
In all the blooms that blow so fast,Thou hast no further part,Save those the hour I saw thee last,I laid above thy heart.
Two snowdrops for our boy and girl,A primrose blown for me,Wreathed with one often-play’d-with curlFrom each bright head for thee.
And so I graced thee for thy grave,And made these tokens fastWith that old silver heart I gave,My first gift--and my last.
II
I dream’d, her babe upon her breast,Here she might lie and calmly restHer happy eyes on that far hillThat backs the landscape fresh and still.
I hoped her thoughts would thrid the boughsWhere careless birds on love carouse,And gaze those apple-blossoms throughTo revel in the boundless blue.
But now her faculty of sightIs elder sister to the light,And travels free and unconfinedThrough dense and rare, through form and mind.
Or else her life to be completeHath found new channels full and meet--Then, O, what eyes are leaning o’er,If fairer than they were before!
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- graced a.
- Endowed with grace; beautiful; full of graces; honorable.
- babe n.
- An infant; a young child of either sex; a baby. [Cf. Ir. bab, baban, W. baban, maban.]
- backs n.
- Among leather dealers, the thickest and stoutest tanned hides.
- thrid n.
- Thread; continuous line.
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: William Philpot, Poems, (1823–1889), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-william-philpot/marit-su.html, id L16231.
Form and metre
Maritæ Suæ is 34 lines in 10 stanzas. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 3 of the 10 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 38% 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.
- 2 -A-A now · headA · snow · bedA
- 3 ABAB fastA · partB · lastA · heartB
- 4 ABAB girlA · meB · curlA · theeB
- 5 ABAB graveA · fastB · gaveA · lastB
- 7 AABB breastA · restA · hillB · stillB
- 8 AABB boughsA · carouseA · throughB · blueB
- 9 AABB sightA · lightA · unconfinedB · mindB
- 10 AA-- completeA · meetA · o'er · before
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | · |
| Of all the flowers rising now, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Thou only saw’st the head | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of that unopen’d drop of snow | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| I placed beside thy bed. | 7 | ··˘˘/·· |
| In all the blooms that blow so fast, | 8 | ········ |
| Thou hast no further part, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Save those the hour I saw thee last, | 8 | ···/···· |
| I laid above thy heart. | 6 | ······ |
| Two snowdrops for our boy and girl, | 8 | ····/··· |
| A primrose blown for me, | 6 | ·/···· |
| Wreathed with one often-play’d-with curl | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| From each bright head for thee. | 6 | ······ |
| And so I graced thee for thy grave, | 8 | ········ |
| And made these tokens fast | 6 | ···/˘· |
| With that old silver heart I gave, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| My first gift--and my last. | 6 | ······ |
| II | 1 | · |
| I dream’d, her babe upon her breast, | 8 | ········ |
| Here she might lie and calmly rest | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Her happy eyes on that far hill | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That backs the landscape fresh and still. | 8 | ···/···· |
| I hoped her thoughts would thrid the boughs | 8 | ········ |
| Where careless birds on love carouse, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And gaze those apple-blossoms through | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To revel in the boundless blue. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But now her faculty of sight | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| Is elder sister to the light, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| And travels free and unconfined | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Through dense and rare, through form and mind. | 8 | ········ |
| Or else her life to be complete | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Hath found new channels full and meet-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then, O, what eyes are leaning o’er, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| If fairer than they were before! | 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.