The Zest of Life
Give thanks. It is not time misspent;Worst fare this betters, and the best,Wanting this natural condiment,Breeds crudeness, and will not digest.The grateful love the Giver’s law;But those who eat, and look no higher,From sin or doubtful sanction drawThe biting sauce their feasts require.Give thanks for nought, if you’ve no more,And, having all things, do not doubtThat nought, with thanks, is blest beforeWhate’er the world can give, without.
Words in this poem
- crudeness n.
- A crude, undigested, or unprepared state; rawness; unripeness; immatureness; unfitness for a destined use or purpose; as, the crudeness of iron ore; crudeness of theories or plans.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Zest of Life is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Angel in the House, Project Gutenberg ebook #4099; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Coventry Patmore, The Zest of Life, in The Angel in the House (1854–1862), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4099, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/patmore-angel/the-zest-of-life.html, id L12259.
Form and metre
The Zest of Life is 12 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABABCDCDEFEF. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%). 94% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.3 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% 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 ABABCDCDEFEF misspentA · bestB · condimentA · digestB · lawC · higherD · drawC · requireD · moreE · doubtF · beforeE · withoutF
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Give thanks. It is not time misspent; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Worst fare this betters, and the best, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Wanting this natural condiment, | 9 | /˘·/˘˘/˘˘ |
| Breeds crudeness, and will not digest. | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| The grateful love the Giver’s law; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But those who eat, and look no higher, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| From sin or doubtful sanction draw | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The biting sauce their feasts require. | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Give thanks for nought, if you’ve no more, | 8 | ········ |
| And, having all things, do not doubt | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| That nought, with thanks, is blest before | 8 | ········ |
| Whate’er the world can give, without. | 9 | ˘˘/······ |
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.