Five Months Old
My pretty, budding, breathing flower,Methinks, if I to-morrowCould manage, just for half-an-hour,Sir Joshua’s brush to borrow,I might immortalise a fewOf all the myriad gracesWhich Time, while yet they all are new,With newer still replaces.
I’d paint, my child, your deep blue eyes,Their quick and earnest flashes;I’d paint the fringe that round them lies,The fringe of long dark lashes;I’d draw with most fastidious careOne eyebrow, then the other,And that fair forehead, broad and fair,The forehead of your mother.
I’d oft retouch the dimpled cheekWhere health in sunshine dances;And oft the pouting lips, where speakA thousand voiceless fancies;And the soft neck would keep me long,The neck, more smooth and snowyThan ever yet in schoolboy’s songHad Caroline or Chloe.
Nor less on those twin rounded armsMy new-found skill would linger,Nor less upon the rosy charmsOf every tiny finger;Nor slight the small feet, little one,So prematurely cleverThat, though they neither walk nor run,I think they’d jump for ever.
But then your odd endearing ways--What study ere could catch them?Your aimless gestures, endless plays--What canvass ere could match them?Your lively leap of merriment,Your murmur of petition,Your serious silence of content,Your laugh of recognition.
Here were a puzzling toil, indeed,For Art’s most fine creations!--Grow on, sweet baby; we will need,To note your transformations,No picture of your form or face,Your waking or your sleeping,But that which Love shall daily trace,And trust to Memory’s keeping.
Hereafter, when revolving yearsHave made you tall and twenty,And brought you blended hopes and fears,And sighs and slaves in plenty,May those who watch our little saintAmong her tasks and duties,Feel all her virtues hard to paint,As now we deem her beauties.
Words in this poem 17
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- borrow v. t.
- To receive from another as a loan, with the implied or expressed intention of returning the identical article or its equivalent in kind; -- the opposite of lend. [OE. borwen, AS. borgian, fr. borg, borh, pledge; akin to D. borg, G. borg; prob. fr. root of AS. beorgan to protect. Borough.]
- immortalise v. t.
- To render immortal; to cause to live or exist forever. S. Clarke. [Cf. F. immortaliser.]
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- eyebrow n.
- The brow or hairy arch above the eye.
- retouch v. t.
- To touch again, or rework, in order to improve; to revise; as, to retouch a picture or an essay. [Pref. re- + touch: cf. F. retoucher.]
- sunshine n.
- The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
- pouting n.
- Childish sullenness.
- voiceless a.
- Having no voice, utterance, or vote; silent; mute; dumb.
- snowy a.
- White like snow.
- schoolboy n.
- A boy belonging to, or attending, a school.
- caroline n.
- A silver coin once current in some parts of Italy, worth about seven cents. Simmonds. [F. carin; cf. It. carlino; -- so called from Carlo (Charles) VI. of Naples.]
- endearing a.
- Making dear or beloved; causing love.
- aimless a.
- Without aim or purpose; as, an aimless life.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- deem v. t.
- To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Five Months Old is in the public domain. This text is taken from The poems of Winthrop Mackworth Praed. [selected], Project Gutenberg ebook #71008; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Winthrop Mackworth Praed, Five Months Old, in Poems (1820–1839), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71008, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/praed-poems/five-months-old.html, id L10254.
Form and metre
Five Months Old is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDCD, complete in 5 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.6 syllables. 28 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 23% 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 A-A-BCBC flowerA · morrow · hourA · borrow · fewB · gracesC · newB · replacesC
- 2 ABABCDCD eyesA · flashesB · liesA · lashesB · careC · otherD · fairC · motherD
- 3 A-A-BCBC cheekA · dances · speakA · fancies · longB · snowyC · songB · chloeC
- 4 ABABCDCD armsA · lingerB · charmsA · fingerB · oneC · cleverD · runC · everD
- 5 ABABCDCD waysA · themB · playsA · themB · merrimentC · petitionD · contentC · recognitionD
- 6 ABABCDCD indeedA · creationsB · needA · transformationsB · faceC · sleepingD · traceC · keepingD
- 7 ABABCDCD yearsA · twentyB · fearsA · plentyB · saintC · dutiesD · paintC · beautiesD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| My pretty, budding, breathing flower, | 9 | ·/˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Methinks, if I to-morrow | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| Could manage, just for half-an-hour, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Sir Joshua’s brush to borrow, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/· |
| I might immortalise a few | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| Of all the myriad graces | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Which Time, while yet they all are new, | 8 | ········ |
| With newer still replaces. | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| I’d paint, my child, your deep blue eyes, | 8 | ········ |
| Their quick and earnest flashes; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| I’d paint the fringe that round them lies, | 8 | ········ |
| The fringe of long dark lashes; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| I’d draw with most fastidious care | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| One eyebrow, then the other, | 7 | ·/···/˘ |
| And that fair forehead, broad and fair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The forehead of your mother. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| I’d oft retouch the dimpled cheek | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Where health in sunshine dances; | 7 | ···/·/˘ |
| And oft the pouting lips, where speak | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| A thousand voiceless fancies; | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| And the soft neck would keep me long, | 8 | ········ |
| The neck, more smooth and snowy | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Than ever yet in schoolboy’s song | 8 | ·/˘··/·· |
| Had Caroline or Chloe. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Nor less on those twin rounded arms | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My new-found skill would linger, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Nor less upon the rosy charms | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of every tiny finger; | 8 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Nor slight the small feet, little one, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So prematurely clever | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| That, though they neither walk nor run, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I think they’d jump for ever. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But then your odd endearing ways-- | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| What study ere could catch them? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Your aimless gestures, endless plays-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| What canvass ere could match them? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Your lively leap of merriment, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| Your murmur of petition, | 7 | ·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Your serious silence of content, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘·˘/ |
| Your laugh of recognition. | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Here were a puzzling toil, indeed, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| For Art’s most fine creations!-- | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| Grow on, sweet baby; we will need, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| To note your transformations, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| No picture of your form or face, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your waking or your sleeping, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| But that which Love shall daily trace, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And trust to Memory’s keeping. | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Hereafter, when revolving years | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Have made you tall and twenty, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| And brought you blended hopes and fears, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And sighs and slaves in plenty, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| May those who watch our little saint | 8 | ····//˘· |
| Among her tasks and duties, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Feel all her virtues hard to paint, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| As now we deem her beauties. | 7 | ·····/˘ |
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.