Considerate
On Sainct John decollacionHe hawked on this facion,Tempore vesperarum,Sed non secundum Sarum,But lyke a Marche harum,His braynes were so parum.He sayde he would not letHis houndis for to fet,To hunte there by lyberteIn the dyspyte of me,And to halow there the fox:Downe went my offerynge box,Boke, bell, and candyll,All that he myght handyll;Cros, staffe, lectryne, and banner,Fell downe on this manner.
Words in this poem
- hawked a.
- Curved like a hawk's bill; crooked.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- boke v. t.
- To poke; to thrust.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Considerate is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of John Skelton, Volume 1 (of 2), Project Gutenberg ebook #59997; 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 Skelton, Considerate, in Poetical Works, Volume I (1500–1529), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/skelton-poems/considerate.html, id L08659.
Form and metre
Considerate is 16 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 62% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.2 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AAB-BB----CCDDEE decollacionA · facionA · vesperarumB · sarum · harumB · parumB · let · fet · lyberte · me · foxC · boxC · candyllD · handyllD · bannerE · mannerE
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| On Sainct John decollacion | 7 | ······· |
| He hawked on this facion, | 6 | ······ |
| Tempore vesperarum, | 6 | /˘···· |
| Sed non secundum Sarum, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But lyke a Marche harum, | 6 | ······ |
| His braynes were so parum. | 6 | ······ |
| He sayde he would not let | 6 | ······ |
| His houndis for to fet, | 6 | ······ |
| To hunte there by lyberte | 6 | ······ |
| In the dyspyte of me, | 6 | ······ |
| And to halow there the fox: | 7 | ······· |
| Downe went my offerynge box, | 7 | ······· |
| Boke, bell, and candyll, | 5 | ····· |
| All that he myght handyll; | 6 | ······ |
| Cros, staffe, lectryne, and banner, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Fell downe on this manner. | 6 | ····/˘ |
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.