Second Love
How shall I woo her!--I will standBeside her when she sings;And watch that fine and fairy handFlit o’er the quivering strings:And I will tell her I have heard,Though sweet her song may be,A voice whose every whispered wordWas more than song to me.
How shall I woo her?--I will gazeIn sad and silent tranceOn those blue eyes, whose liquid raysLook love in every glance:And I will tell her, eyes more bright,Though bright her own may beam,Will fling a deeper spell to-nightUpon me in my dream.
How shall I woo her?--I will tryThe charms of olden time,And swear by earth, and sea, and sky,And rave in prose and rhyme:And I will tell her, when I bent,My knee in other years,--I was not half so eloquent,--I could not speak for tears!
How shall I woo her?--I will bowBefore the holy shrine;And pray the prayer and vow the vow,And press her lips to mine;And I will tell her, when she partsFrom passion’s thrilling kiss,That memory to many heartsIs dearer far than bliss.
Away, away, the chords are mute,The bond is rent in twain;You cannot wake that silent lute,Nor clasp those links again;Love’s toil, I know, is little cost,Love’s perjury is light sin;But souls that lose what I have lost,What have they left to win?
Words in this poem
- 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,]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- olden a.
- Old; ancient; as, the olden time.
- thrilling a.
- Causing a thrill; causing tremulous excitement; deeply moving; as, a thrilling romance.
- twain a.
- Two;- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. [OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twegen, masc. See Two.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Second Love 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, Second Love, in Poems (1820–1839), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #71008, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/praed-poems/second-love.html, id L10232.
Form and metre
Second Love is 40 lines in 5 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.1 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 28% 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 standA · singsB · handA · stringsB · heardC · beD · wordC · meD
- 2 ABABCDCD gazeA · tranceB · raysA · glanceB · brightC · beamD · nightC · dreamD
- 3 ABABCDCD tryA · timeB · skyA · rhymeB · bentC · yearsD · eloquentC · tearsD
- 4 ABABCDCD bowA · shrineB · vowA · mineB · partsC · kissD · heartsC · blissD
- 5 ABABCDCD muteA · twainB · luteA · againB · costC · sinD · lostC · winD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How shall I woo her!--I will stand | 8 | ········ |
| Beside her when she sings; | 6 | ˘/···· |
| And watch that fine and fairy hand | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Flit o’er the quivering strings: | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And I will tell her I have heard, | 8 | ········ |
| Though sweet her song may be, | 6 | ······ |
| A voice whose every whispered word | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Was more than song to me. | 6 | ······ |
| How shall I woo her?--I will gaze | 8 | ········ |
| In sad and silent trance | 6 | ···/˘· |
| On those blue eyes, whose liquid rays | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Look love in every glance: | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| And I will tell her, eyes more bright, | 8 | ········ |
| Though bright her own may beam, | 6 | ······ |
| Will fling a deeper spell to-night | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upon me in my dream. | 6 | ······ |
| How shall I woo her?--I will try | 8 | ········ |
| The charms of olden time, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And swear by earth, and sea, and sky, | 8 | ········ |
| And rave in prose and rhyme: | 6 | ······ |
| And I will tell her, when I bent, | 8 | ········ |
| My knee in other years,-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| I was not half so eloquent,-- | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| I could not speak for tears! | 6 | ······ |
| How shall I woo her?--I will bow | 8 | ········ |
| Before the holy shrine; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And pray the prayer and vow the vow, | 8 | ········ |
| And press her lips to mine; | 6 | ······ |
| And I will tell her, when she parts | 8 | ········ |
| From passion’s thrilling kiss, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| That memory to many hearts | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Is dearer far than bliss. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Away, away, the chords are mute, | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| The bond is rent in twain; | 6 | ······ |
| You cannot wake that silent lute, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Nor clasp those links again; | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Love’s toil, I know, is little cost, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Love’s perjury is light sin; | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| But souls that lose what I have lost, | 8 | ········ |
| What have they left to win? | 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.