A Song: I cannot change, as others do
I cannot change, as others do,Though you unjustly scorn:Since that poor Swain that sighs for you,For you alone was born.No, Phillis, no, your Heart to moveA surer way I'll try:And to revenge my slighted Love,Will still love on, will still love on, and die.
When, kill'd with Grief, Amintas lies;And you to mind shall call,The Sighs that now unpitied rise,The Tears that vainly fall.That welcome Hour that ends this Smart,Will then begin your Pain;For such a faithful tender HeartCan never break, can never break in vain.
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,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song: I cannot change, as others do 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: I cannot change, as others do, in The Works of the Earl of Rochester (1680), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44891, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rochester-works/a-song-i-cannot-change-as-others-do.html, id L20454.
Form and metre
A Song: I cannot change, as others do is 16 lines in 2 stanzas of 8 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABCDCD. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 doA · scornB · youA · bornB · moveC · tryD · loveC · dieD
- 2 ABABCDCD liesA · callB · riseA · fallB · smartC · painD · heartC · vainD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| I cannot change, as others do, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Though you unjustly scorn: | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Since that poor Swain that sighs for you, | 8 | ········ |
| For you alone was born. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| No, Phillis, no, your Heart to move | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A surer way I'll try: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And to revenge my slighted Love, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| Will still love on, will still love on, and die. | 10 | ·········· |
| When, kill'd with Grief, Amintas lies; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And you to mind shall call, | 6 | ······ |
| The Sighs that now unpitied rise, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The Tears that vainly fall. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| That welcome Hour that ends this Smart, | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Will then begin your Pain; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| For such a faithful tender Heart | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Can never break, can never break in vain. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
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.