Envy
He was the first always: FortuneShone bright in his face.I fought for years; with no effortHe conquered the place:We ran; my feet were all bleeding,But he won the race.
Spite of his many successesMen loved him the same;My one pale ray of good fortuneMet scoffing and blame.When we erred, they gave him pity,But me--only shame.
My home was still in the shadow,His lay in the sun:I longed in vain: what he asked forIt straightway was done.Once I staked all my heart's treasure,We played--and he won.
Yes; and just now I have seen him,Cold, smiling, and blest,Laid in his coffin. God help me!While he is at rest,I am cursed still to live:- evenDeath loved him the best.
Words in this poem
- straightway adv.
- Immediately; without loss of time; without delay.
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Envy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Envy, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/envy.html, id L21757.
Form and metre
Envy is 24 lines in 4 stanzas of 6 lines each. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 75%).
See other poems in iambic trimeter.
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-A fortune · faceA · effort · placeA · bleeding · raceA
- 2 -A-A-A successes · sameA · fortune · blameA · pity · shameA
- 3 -A-A-A shadow · sunA · for · doneA · treasure · wonA
- 4 -A-A-A him · blestA · me · restA · even · bestA
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| He was the first always: Fortune | 8 | ····/·/˘ |
| Shone bright in his face. | 5 | ····· |
| I fought for years; with no effort | 8 | ······/˘ |
| He conquered the place: | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| We ran; my feet were all bleeding, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But he won the race. | 5 | ····· |
| Spite of his many successes | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Men loved him the same; | 5 | ····· |
| My one pale ray of good fortune | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Met scoffing and blame. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| When we erred, they gave him pity, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| But me--only shame. | 5 | ··/˘· |
| My home was still in the shadow, | 8 | ······/· |
| His lay in the sun: | 5 | ····· |
| I longed in vain: what he asked for | 8 | ········ |
| It straightway was done. | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Once I staked all my heart's treasure, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| We played--and he won. | 5 | ····· |
| Yes; and just now I have seen him, | 8 | ········ |
| Cold, smiling, and blest, | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Laid in his coffin. God help me! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While he is at rest, | 5 | ····· |
| I am cursed still to live:- even | 8 | ······/˘ |
| Death loved him the best. | 5 | ····· |
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.