A Song: Ancient Person, for whom I
Ancient Person, for whom IAll the flatt'ring Youth defie;Long be it e're thou grow old,Aking, shaking, crasie, cold.But still continue as thou art,Ancient Person of my Heart.
On thy withered Lips and dry,Which like barren Furrows lie;Brooding Kisses I will pour,Shall thy youthful Heart restore.Such Kind Show'rs in Autumn fall,And a second Spring recal:Nor from thee will ever part,Ancient Person of my Heart.
Thy nobler Part, which but to name,In our Sex wou'd be counted Shame,By Ages frozen grasp possess'dFrom their Ice shall be releas'd:And, sooth'd by my reviving Hand,In former Warmth and Vigour stand.All a Lover's Wish can reach,For thy Joy my Love shall teach:And for thy Pleasure shall improveAll that Art can add to Love,Yet still I love thee without Art,Ancient Person of my Heart.
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,]
- vigour v. t.
- To invigorate. Feltham.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song: Ancient Person, for whom I 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: Ancient Person, for whom I, in The Works of the Earl of Rochester (1680), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44891, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rochester-works/a-song-ancient-person-for-whom-i.html, id L20443.
Form and metre
A Song: Ancient Person, for whom I is 26 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 77% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 --AABB i · defie · oldA · coldA · artB · heartB
- 2 AABB--CC dryA · lieA · pourB · restoreB · fall · recal · partC · heartC
- 3 AA--BBCCDDEE nameA · shameA · possess'd · releas'd · handB · standB · reachC · teachC · improveD · loveD · artE · heartE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient Person, for whom I | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| All the flatt'ring Youth defie; | 7 | ······· |
| Long be it e're thou grow old, | 7 | ······· |
| Aking, shaking, crasie, cold. | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| But still continue as thou art, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Ancient Person of my Heart. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| On thy withered Lips and dry, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Which like barren Furrows lie; | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Brooding Kisses I will pour, | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Shall thy youthful Heart restore. | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Such Kind Show'rs in Autumn fall, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| And a second Spring recal: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Nor from thee will ever part, | 7 | ····/˘· |
| Ancient Person of my Heart. | 7 | /˘/˘··· |
| Thy nobler Part, which but to name, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| In our Sex wou'd be counted Shame, | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| By Ages frozen grasp possess'd | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| From their Ice shall be releas'd: | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| And, sooth'd by my reviving Hand, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| In former Warmth and Vigour stand. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All a Lover's Wish can reach, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For thy Joy my Love shall teach: | 7 | ······· |
| And for thy Pleasure shall improve | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| All that Art can add to Love, | 7 | ······· |
| Yet still I love thee without Art, | 8 | ········ |
| Ancient Person of my Heart. | 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.