The Answer
Nothing adds to your fond FireMore than Scorn, and cold Disdain:I, to cherish your Desire,Kindness us'd, but 'twas in vain.
You insisted on your Slave,Humble Love you soon refus'd:Hope not then a Pow'r to have,Which ingloriously you us'd.
Think not, Thirsis, I will e're,By my Love my Empire lose:You grow constant through Dispair,Love return'd you wou'd abuse.
Though you still possess my Heart,Scorn and Rigour I must feign:Ah! forgive that only Art,Love has left your Love to gain.
You that could my Heart subdue,To new Conquests ne'er pretend:Let the Example make me true,And of a conquer'd Foe a Friend.
Then, if e'er I should complainOf your Empire, or my Chain,Summon all the powerful Charms,And kill the Rebel in your Arms.
Words in this poem
- ingloriously adv.
- In an inglorious manner; dishonorably; with shame; ignominiously; obscurely.
- dispair v. t.
- To separate (a pair).
- rigour n.
- Rigidity; stiffness. [L. See Rigor., below.]
- rebel a.
- Pertaining to rebels or rebellion; acting in revolt; rebellious; as, rebel troops. [F. rebelle, fr. L. rebellis. See Rebel, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Answer 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, The Answer, in The Works of the Earl of Rochester (1680), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #44891, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rochester-works/the-answer.html, id L09183.
Form and metre
The Answer is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is trochaic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 7.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 8% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in trochaic 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 fireA · disdainB · desireA · vainB
- 2 ABAB slaveA · refus'dB · haveA · us'dB
- 3 ABAB e'reA · loseB · dispairA · abuseB
- 4 ABAB heartA · feignB · artA · gainB
- 5 ABAB subdueA · pretendB · trueA · friendB
- 6 AABB complainA · chainA · charmsB · armsB
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 trochaic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing adds to your fond Fire | 8 | /˘····/˘ |
| More than Scorn, and cold Disdain: | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| I, to cherish your Desire, | 8 | ··/˘·˘/˘ |
| Kindness us'd, but 'twas in vain. | 7 | /˘····· |
| You insisted on your Slave, | 7 | ·˘/˘··· |
| Humble Love you soon refus'd: | 7 | /˘···˘/ |
| Hope not then a Pow'r to have, | 7 | ······· |
| Which ingloriously you us'd. | 8 | ·˘/˘˘˘·· |
| Think not, Thirsis, I will e're, | 7 | ······· |
| By my Love my Empire lose: | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| You grow constant through Dispair, | 7 | ··/˘·˘/ |
| Love return'd you wou'd abuse. | 7 | ·˘/··˘/ |
| Though you still possess my Heart, | 7 | ···˘/·· |
| Scorn and Rigour I must feign: | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Ah! forgive that only Art, | 7 | ·˘/·/˘· |
| Love has left your Love to gain. | 7 | ······· |
| You that could my Heart subdue, | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| To new Conquests ne'er pretend: | 7 | ··/··˘/ |
| Let the Example make me true, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| And of a conquer'd Foe a Friend. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Then, if e'er I should complain | 7 | ·····˘/ |
| Of your Empire, or my Chain, | 8 | ··/˘˘··· |
| Summon all the powerful Charms, | 8 | /˘··/˘˘· |
| And kill the Rebel in your Arms. | 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.