Mss
Boetius de Discip. Schol. cum notabili commento, Daventrie, 1496, 4to(in the collection of the late Mr. Heber), which has supplied severalstanzas hitherto unprinted (vol. i. 141).
Mus.) 4787, fol. 224 (vol. i. 177).
C.C.C.—No. ccclvii. of Nasmith’s Catal. p. 362.
Tanner (Biblioth. p. 676. ed. 1748) mentions the following two piecesMemoir, pp. xxi, xxiii.)—
Methodos Skeltonidis laureati, sc. Præcepta quædam moralia Henricoprincipi, postea Henr. viii, missa, Dat. apud Eltham A.D. MDI.Principium deest.
Words in this poem
- hitherto adv.
- To this place; to a prescribed limit.
- tanner n.
- One whose occupation is to tan hides, or convert them into leather by the use of tan.
- postea n.
- The return of the judge before whom a cause was tried, after a verdict, of what was done in the cause, which is indorsed on the nisi prius record. Wharton. [L., after these or those (things), afterward.]
- missa n.
- The service or sacrifice of the Mass. [LL. See 1st Mass.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Mss 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, Mss, in Poetical Works, Volume I (1500–1529), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/skelton-poems/mss.html, id L08623.
Form and metre
Mss is 10 lines in 5 verse paragraphs. It is unrhymed, as far as the pronouncing dictionary can tell. 89% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 40% 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boetius de Discip. Schol. cum notabili commento, Daventrie, 1496, 4to | 18 | ·················· |
| (in the collection of the late Mr. Heber), which has supplied several | 18 | ··˘/˘···/˘/˘··˘//˘ |
| stanzas hitherto unprinted (vol. i. 141). | 10 | /˘/·/····· |
| Mus.) 4787, fol. 224 (vol. i. 177). | 4 | ···· |
| C.C.C.—No. ccclvii. of Nasmith’s Catal. p. 362. | 11 | ··········· |
| Tanner (Biblioth. p. 676. ed. 1748) mentions the following two pieces | 14 | /˘····/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Memoir, pp. xxi, xxiii.)— | 5 | /···· |
| Methodos Skeltonidis laureati, sc. Præcepta quædam moralia Henrico | 22 | ······················ |
| principi, postea Henr. viii, missa, Dat. apud Eltham A.D. MDI. | 18 | ···/˘˘··/˘········ |
| Principium deest. | 4 | ···· |
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.