Poems
Of all the torments, all the cares,With which our lives are curst;Of all the plagues a lover bears,Sure rivals are the worst!By partners in each other kindAfflictions easier grow;In love alone we hate to findCompanions of our woe.
Sylvia, for all the pangs you seeAre labouring in my breast,I beg not you would favour me,Would you but slight the rest!How great soe’er your rigours are,With them alone I’ll cope;I can endure my own despair,But not another’s hope.
Words in this poem
- curst a.
- Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [SeeCurse.]
- labouring a.
- That labors; performing labor; esp., performing coarse, heavy work, not requiring skill also, set apart for labor; as, laboring days.
- favour n.
- Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
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 Walsh, Poems, (1663–1708), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #66619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/obev-william-walsh/rivals.html, id L16142.
Form and metre
Rivals is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 92% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.2 syllables. 19% 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 ABABCDCD caresA · curstB · bearsA · worstB · kindC · growD · findC · woeD
- 2 ABAB-C-C seeA · breastB · meA · restB · are · copeC · despair · hopeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Of all the torments, all the cares, | 8 | ···/···· |
| With which our lives are curst; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Of all the plagues a lover bears, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Sure rivals are the worst! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| By partners in each other kind | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Afflictions easier grow; | 7 | ˘/˘/˘˘· |
| In love alone we hate to find | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Companions of our woe. | 7 | ˘/˘·/˘· |
| Sylvia, for all the pangs you see | 9 | /˘˘······ |
| Are labouring in my breast, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| I beg not you would favour me, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Would you but slight the rest! | 6 | ······ |
| How great soe’er your rigours are, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| With them alone I’ll cope; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| I can endure my own despair, | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| But not another’s hope. | 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.