Two Sisters
Well may you sit within, and, fond of grief,Look in each other’s face, and melt in tears.Well may you shun all counsel, all relief.Oh she was great in mind, tho’ young in years!
Chang’d is that lovely countenance, which shedLight when she spoke; and kindled sweet surprise,As o’er her frame each warm emotion spread,Play’d round her lips, and sparkled in her eyes.
Those lips so pure, that mov’d but to persuade,Still to the last enliven’d and endear’d.Those eyes at once her secret soul convey’d,And ever beam’d delight when you appear’d.
Yet has she fled the life of bliss below,That youthful Hope in bright perspective drew?False were the tints! false as the feverish glowThat o’er her burning cheek Distemper threw!
And now in joy she dwells, in glory moves!(Glory and joy reserv’d for you to share.)Far, far more blest in blessing those she loves,Than they, alas! unconscious of her care.
Words in this poem
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- endear v. t.
- To make dear or beloved.
- perspective a.
- Of or pertaining to the science of vision; optical. [L. perspicere, perspectum, to look through; per + spicere, specere, to look: cf. F. perspectif; or from E. perspective, n. See Spy, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Two Sisters is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #13586; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Samuel Rogers, Two Sisters, in Poems (1792–1834), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #13586, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/rogers-poems/two-sisters.html, id L09730.
Form and metre
Two Sisters is 20 lines in 5 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 4 of its 5 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 griefA · tearsB · reliefA · yearsB
- 2 ABAB shedA · surpriseB · spreadA · eyesB
- 3 ABAB persuadeA · endear'dB · convey'dA · appear'dB
- 4 ABAB belowA · drewB · glowA · threwB
- 5 -A-A moves · shareA · loves · careA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Well may you sit within, and, fond of grief, | 10 | ·········· |
| Look in each other’s face, and melt in tears. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Well may you shun all counsel, all relief. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Oh she was great in mind, tho’ young in years! | 10 | ·········· |
| Chang’d is that lovely countenance, which shed | 10 | ···/˘/˘˘·· |
| Light when she spoke; and kindled sweet surprise, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| As o’er her frame each warm emotion spread, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Play’d round her lips, and sparkled in her eyes. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Those lips so pure, that mov’d but to persuade, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Still to the last enliven’d and endear’d. | 10 | ····˘/˘·˘/ |
| Those eyes at once her secret soul convey’d, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| And ever beam’d delight when you appear’d. | 10 | ·/˘·˘/··˘/ |
| Yet has she fled the life of bliss below, | 10 | ·········· |
| That youthful Hope in bright perspective drew? | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| False were the tints! false as the feverish glow | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That o’er her burning cheek Distemper threw! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| And now in joy she dwells, in glory moves! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| (Glory and joy reserv’d for you to share.) | 10 | /˘··˘/···· |
| Far, far more blest in blessing those she loves, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Than they, alas! unconscious of her care. | 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.