To Emilia Viviani
Dr. Garnett, "Relics of Shelley", 1862; (2, 2 and 3) by H. Buxton
Madonna, wherefore hast thou sent to meSweet-basil and mignonette?Embleming love and health, which never yetIn the same wreath might be.Alas, and they are wet!Is it with thy kisses or thy tears?For never rain or dewSuch fragrance drewFrom plant or flower--the very doubt endearsMy sadness ever new,The sighs I breathe, the tears I shed for thee.
Send the stars light, but send not love to me,In whom love ever madeHealth like a heap of embers soon to fade--
Words in this poem
- madonna n.
- My lady; -- a term of address in Italian formerly used as the equivalent of Madame, but for which Signora is now substituted. [It. madonna my lady. See Dame, Donna, and cf. Madame, Monkey.]
- wherefore adv.
- For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- mignonette n.
- A plant (Reseda odorata) having greenish flowers with orange- colored stamens, and exhaling a delicious fragrance. In Africa it is a low shrub, but further north it is usually an annual herb. [F. mignonnette, dim. of mignon darling. See 2d Minion.]
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Emilia Viviani is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #4798; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, To Emilia Viviani, in The Complete Poetical Works, Volume II (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/to-emilia-viviani.html, id L16440.
Form and metre
To Emilia Viviani is 15 lines in 3 stanzas. 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 1 line ends on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 47% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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.
- 2 ABBABCDDCDA meA · mignonetteB · yetB · beA · wetB · tearsC · dewD · drewD · endearsC · newD · theeA
- 3 -AA me · madeA · fadeA
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. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Garnett, "Relics of Shelley", 1862; (2, 2 and 3) by H. Buxton | 13 | ·/˘/˘·/˘···/˘ |
| Madonna, wherefore hast thou sent to me | 10 | ˘/˘/˘····· |
| Sweet-basil and mignonette? | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Embleming love and health, which never yet | 10 | /˘˘····/˘· |
| In the same wreath might be. | 6 | ······ |
| Alas, and they are wet! | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Is it with thy kisses or thy tears? | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| For never rain or dew | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Such fragrance drew | 4 | ·/˘· |
| From plant or flower--the very doubt endears | 10 | ···/·/˘·˘/ |
| My sadness ever new, | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The sighs I breathe, the tears I shed for thee. | 10 | ·········· |
| Send the stars light, but send not love to me, | 10 | ·········· |
| In whom love ever made | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Health like a heap of embers soon to fade-- | 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.