A Song: To this moment a Rebel, I throw down my Arms
To this moment a Rebel, I throw down my Arms,Great Love, at first Sight of Olinda's bright Charms:Made proud, and secure by such Forces as these,You may now play the Tyrant as soon as you please.
When Innocence, Beauty, and Wit do conspire,To betray, and engage, and inflame my Desire,Why should I decline what I cannot avoid,And let pleasing Hope by base Fear be destroy'd?
Her Innocence cannot contrive to undo me,Her Beauty's inclin'd, or why shou'd it pursue me?And Wit has to Pleasure been ever a Friend,Then what room for Despair since Delight is Love's End.
There can be no danger in Sweetness and Youth,Where Love is secur'd by Good-nature and Truth:On her Beauty I'll gaze, and of Pleasure complain;While every kind Look adds a Link to my Chain.
'Tis more to maintain, than it was to surprize,But her Wit leads in Triumph the Slave of her Eyes:I beheld, with the Loss of my Freedom before,But hearing, for ever must serve and adore.Too bright is my Goddess, her Temple too weak:Retire, Divine Image! I feel my Heart break.Help, Love, I dissolve in a Rapture of Charms;At the thought of those Joys I shou'd meet in her Arms.
Upon his leaving his MISTRESS.
Words in this poem
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
- avoid v. t.
- To empty. Wyclif. [OF. esvuidier, es (L. ex) + vuidier, voidier, to empty. See Void, a.]
- adore v. t.
- To worship with profound reverence; to pay divine honors to; to honor as deity or as divine. [OE. aouren, anouren, adoren, OF. aorer, adorer, F. adorer, fr. L. adorare; ad + orare to speak, pray, os, oris, mouth. In OE. confused with honor, the French pr]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Song: To this moment a Rebel, I throw down my Arms 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: To this moment a Rebel, I throw down my Arms, in The Works of the Earl of Rochester (1680), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44891, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rochester-works/a-song-to-this-moment-a-rebel-i-throw-down-my-arms.html, id L20448.
Form and metre
A Song: To this moment a Rebel, I throw down my Arms is 25 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 armsA · charmsA · theseB · pleaseB
- 2 AABB conspireA · desireA · avoidB · destroy'dB
- 3 AABB meA · meA · friendB · endB
- 4 AABB youthA · truthA · complainB · chainB
- 5 AABB--CC surprizeA · eyesA · beforeB · adoreB · weak · break · charmsC · armsC
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| To this moment a Rebel, I throw down my Arms, | 12 | ··/˘·˘/····· |
| Great Love, at first Sight of Olinda's bright Charms: | 11 | ······˘/˘·· |
| Made proud, and secure by such Forces as these, | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| You may now play the Tyrant as soon as you please. | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| When Innocence, Beauty, and Wit do conspire, | 10 | ·/˘/˘···˘/ |
| To betray, and engage, and inflame my Desire, | 12 | ·˘/·˘/·˘/·˘/ |
| Why should I decline what I cannot avoid, | 11 | ···˘/··˘/˘/ |
| And let pleasing Hope by base Fear be destroy'd? | 11 | ··/˘·····˘/ |
| Her Innocence cannot contrive to undo me, | 11 | ·/˘/˘˘/·˘/· |
| Her Beauty's inclin'd, or why shou'd it pursue me? | 12 | ·/˘˘/····˘/· |
| And Wit has to Pleasure been ever a Friend, | 10 | ····/˘·/·· |
| Then what room for Despair since Delight is Love's End. | 12 | ····˘/·˘/··· |
| There can be no danger in Sweetness and Youth, | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Where Love is secur'd by Good-nature and Truth: | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| On her Beauty I'll gaze, and of Pleasure complain; | 12 | ··/˘····/˘˘/ |
| While every kind Look adds a Link to my Chain. | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| 'Tis more to maintain, than it was to surprize, | 11 | ···˘/······ |
| But her Wit leads in Triumph the Slave of her Eyes: | 12 | ·····/˘····· |
| I beheld, with the Loss of my Freedom before, | 12 | ·˘/·····/˘·· |
| But hearing, for ever must serve and adore. | 10 | ·/˘·/···˘/ |
| Too bright is my Goddess, her Temple too weak: | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Retire, Divine Image! I feel my Heart break. | 11 | ˘/˘//˘····· |
| Help, Love, I dissolve in a Rapture of Charms; | 11 | ···˘/··/˘·· |
| At the thought of those Joys I shou'd meet in her Arms. | 12 | ············ |
| Upon his leaving his MISTRESS. | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
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