A Song: An Age in her Embraces past
An Age in her Embraces past,Would seem a Winter's Day;Where Life and Light with envious haste,Are torn and snatch'd away.
But, oh! how slowly Minutes roul,When absent from her Eyes;That fed my Love, which is my Soul,It languishes and dies.
For then no more a Soul but Shade,It mournfully does move;And haunts my Breast, by Absence madeThe living Tomb of Love.
You wiser Men despise me not;Whose Love-sick Fancy raves,On Shades of Souls, and Heav'n knows what;Short Ages live in Graves.
Whene'er those wounding Eyes, so fullOf Sweetness, you did see;Had you not been profoundly dull,You had gone mad like me.
Nor censure us, you who perceiveMy best belov'd and me,Sigh and lament, complain and grieve,You think we disagree.
Alas! 'tis sacred Jealousie,Love rais'd to an Extream;The only Proof 'twixt them and me,We love, and do not dream.
Fantastick Fancies fondly move;And in frail Joys believe:Taking false Pleasure for true Love;But Pain can ne'er deceive.
Kind jealous Doubts, tormenting Fears,And anxious Cares, when past;Prove our Hearts Treasure fix'd and dear,And make us blest at last.
Words in this poem
- envious a.
- Malignant; mischievous; spiteful. [OF. envios, F. envieux, fr. L. invidiosus, fr. invidia envy. See Envy, and cf. Invidious.]
- despise v. t.
- To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of. [OF. despis-, in some forms of despire to despise, fr. L. despicere, despectum, to look down upon, despise; de- + spicere, specere, to look. See Spy, and cf. Des]
- profoundly adv.
- In a profound manner.
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song: An Age in her Embraces past is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of the Right Honourable John, Earl of Rochester Consisting of Satires, Songs, Translations, and other Occasional Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #44891; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Wilmot Rochester, A Song: An Age in her Embraces past, in The Works of the Earl of Rochester (1680), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44891, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rochester-works/a-song-an-age-in-her-embraces-past.html, id L20440.
Form and metre
A Song: An Age in her Embraces past is 36 lines in 9 stanzas of 4 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABAB, in 4 of the 9 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is common measure, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in common measure.
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 past · dayA · haste · awayA
- 2 ABAB roulA · eyesB · soulA · diesB
- 3 ABAB shadeA · moveB · madeA · loveB
- 4 -A-A not · ravesA · what · gravesA
- 5 -A-A full · seeA · dull · meA
- 6 ABAB perceiveA · meB · grieveA · disagreeB
- 7 -A-A jealousie · extreamA · me · dreamA
- 8 ABAB moveA · believeB · loveA · deceiveB
- 9 -A-A fears · pastA · dear · lastA
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 common measure. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| An Age in her Embraces past, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Would seem a Winter's Day; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Where Life and Light with envious haste, | 9 | ·····/˘˘· |
| Are torn and snatch'd away. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| But, oh! how slowly Minutes roul, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| When absent from her Eyes; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| That fed my Love, which is my Soul, | 8 | ········ |
| It languishes and dies. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| For then no more a Soul but Shade, | 8 | ········ |
| It mournfully does move; | 6 | ······ |
| And haunts my Breast, by Absence made | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The living Tomb of Love. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| You wiser Men despise me not; | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Whose Love-sick Fancy raves, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| On Shades of Souls, and Heav'n knows what; | 8 | ········ |
| Short Ages live in Graves. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Whene'er those wounding Eyes, so full | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| Of Sweetness, you did see; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Had you not been profoundly dull, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| You had gone mad like me. | 6 | ······ |
| Nor censure us, you who perceive | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| My best belov'd and me, | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Sigh and lament, complain and grieve, | 8 | ··˘/˘/·· |
| You think we disagree. | 6 | ···˘˘/ |
| Alas! 'tis sacred Jealousie, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Love rais'd to an Extream; | 6 | ······ |
| The only Proof 'twixt them and me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| We love, and do not dream. | 6 | ······ |
| Fantastick Fancies fondly move; | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And in frail Joys believe: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Taking false Pleasure for true Love; | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| But Pain can ne'er deceive. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| Kind jealous Doubts, tormenting Fears, | 8 | ·/˘·/·˘· |
| And anxious Cares, when past; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Prove our Hearts Treasure fix'd and dear, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| And make us blest at last. | 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.