To Mary
How, my dear Mary,--are you critic-bitten(For vipers kill, though dead) by some review,That you condemn these verses I have written,Because they tell no story, false or true?What, though no mice are caught by a young kitten,May it not leap and play as grown cats do,Till its claws come? Prithee, for this one time,Content thee with a visionary rhyme.
What hand would crush the silken-winged fly,The youngest of inconstant April's minions,Because it cannot climb the purest sky,Where the swan sings, amid the sun's dominions?Not thine. Thou knowest 'tis its doom to die,When Day shall hide within her twilight pinionsThe lucent eyes, and the eternal smile,Serene as thine, which lent it life awhile.
To thy fair feet a winged Vision came,Whose date should have been longer than a day,And o'er thy head did beat its wings for fame,And in thy sight its fading plumes display;The watery bow burned in the evening flame.But the shower fell, the swift Sun went his way--And that is dead.--O, let me not believeThat anything of mine is fit to live!
Wordsworth informs us he was nineteen yearsConsidering and retouching Peter Bell;Watering his laurels with the killing tearsOf slow, dull care, so that their roots to HellMight pierce, and their wide branches blot the spheresOf Heaven, with dewy leaves and flowers; this wellMay be, for Heaven and Earth conspire to foilThe over-busy gardener's blundering toil.
My Witch indeed is not so sweet a creatureAs Ruth or Lucy, whom his graceful praiseClothes for our grandsons--but she matches Peter,Though he took nineteen years, and she three daysIn dressing. Light the vest of flowing metreShe wears; he, proud as dandy with his stays,Has hung upon his wiry limbs a dressLike King Lear's 'looped and windowed raggedness.'
If you strip Peter, you will see a fellowScorched by Hell's hyperequatorial climateInto a kind of a sulphureous yellow:A lean mark, hardly fit to fling a rhyme at;In shape a Scaramouch, in hue Othello.If you unveil my Witch, no priest nor primateCan shrive you of that sin,--if sin there beIn love, when it becomes idolatry.
Words in this poem 15
- prithee interj.
- A corruption of pray thee; as, I prithee; generally used without I.
- amid prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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,]
- lucent a.
- Shining; bright; resplendent. [L. lucens, p. pr. of lucere to shine, fr. lux, lucis, light.]
- awhile adv.
- For a while; for some time; for a short time. [Adj. a + while time, interval.]
- fading n.
- An Irish dance; also, the burden of a song.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- ruth n.
- Sorrow for the misery of another; pity; tenderness. [From Rue, v.: cf. Icel. hryggedh, hrygedh.]
- vest n.
- An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
- wiry a.
- Made of wire; like wire; drawn out like wire. [Written also wiery.]
- windowed a.
- Having windows or openings.
- sulphureous a.
- Consisting of sulphur; having the qualities of sulphur, or brimstone; impregnated with sulphur. [L. sulphureus, sulfureus.]
- scaramouch n.
- A personage in the old Italian comedy (derived from Spain) characterized by great boastfulness and poltroonery; hence, a person of like characteristics; a buffoon. [F. scaramouche, It.scaramuccio, scaramuccia, originally the name of a celebrated Italian comedian; cf. It. scaramuccia, scaramuccio, F. escarmouche, skirmish. C]
- unveil v. t.
- To remove a veil from; to divest of a veil; to uncover; to disclose to view; to reveal; as, she unveiled her face. [1st pref. un- + veil.]
- shrive v. t.
- To hear or receive the confession of; to administer confession and absolution to; -- said of a priest as the agent. [OE. shriven, schriven, AS. scrivan to shrive, to impose penance or punishment; akin to OFries. skriva to impose punishment; cf. OS. biskriban to be troubled. Cf]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
To Mary is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 1, Project Gutenberg ebook #4797; 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 Mary, in Alastor, and Other Poems (1813–1820), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4797, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-poems/to-mary-2.html, id L25670.
Form and metre
To Mary is 48 lines in 6 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABABCC, complete in 3 of its 6 stanzas; the stanza is the Ottava rima. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
See other poems in ottava rima, 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 ABABABCC bittenA · reviewB · writtenA · trueB · kittenA · doB · timeC · rhymeC
- 2 ABABABCC flyA · minionsB · skyA · dominionsB · dieA · pinionsB · smileC · awhileC
- 3 ABABAB-- cameA · dayB · fameA · displayB · flameA · wayB · believe · live
- 4 ABABABCC yearsA · bellB · tearsA · hellB · spheresA · wellB · foilC · toilC
- 5 -ABABACC creature · praiseA · peterB · daysA · metreB · staysA · dressC · raggednessC
- 6 ABABAB-- fellowA · climateB · yellowA · atB · othelloA · primateB · be · idolatry
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How, my dear Mary,--are you critic-bitten | 11 | ···/˘··/˘/˘ |
| (For vipers kill, though dead) by some review, | 10 | ·/˘······/ |
| That you condemn these verses I have written, | 11 | ··˘/·/˘··/˘ |
| Because they tell no story, false or true? | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| What, though no mice are caught by a young kitten, | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| May it not leap and play as grown cats do, | 10 | ·········· |
| Till its claws come? Prithee, for this one time, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| Content thee with a visionary rhyme. | 10 | ˘/···/˘·˘· |
| What hand would crush the silken-winged fly, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| The youngest of inconstant April's minions, | 11 | ·/˘·˘/˘/˘/˘ |
| Because it cannot climb the purest sky, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Where the swan sings, amid the sun's dominions? | 11 | ····˘/··˘/˘ |
| Not thine. Thou knowest 'tis its doom to die, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| When Day shall hide within her twilight pinions | 11 | ·······/·/˘ |
| The lucent eyes, and the eternal smile, | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Serene as thine, which lent it life awhile. | 10 | ˘/······˘/ |
| To thy fair feet a winged Vision came, | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Whose date should have been longer than a day, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And o'er thy head did beat its wings for fame, | 10 | ·········· |
| And in thy sight its fading plumes display; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The watery bow burned in the evening flame. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| But the shower fell, the swift Sun went his way-- | 10 | ··/······· |
| And that is dead.--O, let me not believe | 10 | ········˘/ |
| That anything of mine is fit to live! | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| Wordsworth informs us he was nineteen years | 10 | /˘˘/···//· |
| Considering and retouching Peter Bell; | 10 | ˘/˘·˘/˘/˘· |
| Watering his laurels with the killing tears | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| Of slow, dull care, so that their roots to Hell | 10 | ·········· |
| Might pierce, and their wide branches blot the spheres | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of Heaven, with dewy leaves and flowers; this well | 10 | ·/·/˘··/·· |
| May be, for Heaven and Earth conspire to foil | 10 | ···/··˘/·· |
| The over-busy gardener's blundering toil. | 10 | ··/˘/˘/˘˘· |
| My Witch indeed is not so sweet a creature | 11 | ··˘/·····/˘ |
| As Ruth or Lucy, whom his graceful praise | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Clothes for our grandsons--but she matches Peter, | 11 | ··//···/˘/˘ |
| Though he took nineteen years, and she three days | 10 | ···//····· |
| In dressing. Light the vest of flowing metre | 11 | ·/˘····/˘/˘ |
| She wears; he, proud as dandy with his stays, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Has hung upon his wiry limbs a dress | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Like King Lear's 'looped and windowed raggedness.' | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| If you strip Peter, you will see a fellow | 11 | ···/˘····/˘ |
| Scorched by Hell's hyperequatorial climate | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| Into a kind of a sulphureous yellow: | 12 | ······˘/˘˘/˘ |
| A lean mark, hardly fit to fling a rhyme at; | 11 | ···/˘······ |
| In shape a Scaramouch, in hue Othello. | 11 | ···/˘···˘/˘ |
| If you unveil my Witch, no priest nor primate | 11 | ··˘/·····/· |
| Can shrive you of that sin,--if sin there be | 10 | ·········· |
| In love, when it becomes idolatry. | 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.