A Song: How blest was the Created State
How blest was the Created StateOf Man and Woman e're they fell,Compar'd to our unhappy Fate,We need not fear another Hell!
Naked, beneath cool Shades, they lay,Enjoyment waited on Desire:Each Member did their Wills obey,Nor could a Wish set Pleasure higher.
But we, poor Slaves, to Hope and Fear,Are never of our Joys secure;They lessen still, as they draw near,And none but dull Delights endure.
Then, Chloris, while I Duty pay,The nobler Tribute of my Heart,Be not you so severe to say,You love me for a frailer Part.
About this text
A Song: How blest was the Created State 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: How blest was the Created State, in The Works of the Earl of Rochester (1680), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44891, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rochester-works/a-song-how-blest-was-the-created-state.html, id L20444.
Form and metre
A Song: How blest was the Created State is 16 lines in 4 stanzas of 4 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABAB. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 ABAB stateA · fellB · fateA · hellB
- 2 ABAB layA · desireB · obeyA · higherB
- 3 ABAB fearA · secureB · nearA · endureB
- 4 ABAB payA · heartB · sayA · partB
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 blest was the Created State | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Of Man and Woman e're they fell, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Compar'd to our unhappy Fate, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| We need not fear another Hell! | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| Naked, beneath cool Shades, they lay, | 8 | /˘······ |
| Enjoyment waited on Desire: | 9 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Each Member did their Wills obey, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Nor could a Wish set Pleasure higher. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| But we, poor Slaves, to Hope and Fear, | 8 | ········ |
| Are never of our Joys secure; | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| They lessen still, as they draw near, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And none but dull Delights endure. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Then, Chloris, while I Duty pay, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The nobler Tribute of my Heart, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Be not you so severe to say, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| You love me for a frailer Part. | 8 | ········ |
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.