Owt of Latyne into Englysshe
Justyce now is dede;Trowth with a drowsy hede,As heuy as the lede,Is layd down to slepe,And takith no kepe;And Ryght is ouer the fallowsGone to seke hallows,With Reason together,No man can tell whether:No man wyll vndertakeThe first twayne to wake;And the twayne lastBe withholde so fastWith mony, as men sayne,They can not come agayne.
A grant tort,Foy dort.
Words in this poem
- tort n.
- Mischief; injury; calamity. [F., from LL. tortum, fr. L. tortus twisted, crooked, p. p. of torqure to twist, bend. See Torture.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Owt of Latyne into Englysshe 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, Owt of Latyne into Englysshe, in Poetical Works, Volume I (1500–1529), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59997, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/skelton-poems/owt-of-latyne-into-englysshe.html, id L08711.
Form and metre
Owt of Latyne into Englysshe is 17 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 5.1 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 24% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See 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 AAABBCCDDEEFFGG dedeA · hedeA · ledeA · slepeB · kepeB · fallowsC · hallowsC · togetherD · whetherD · vndertakeE · wakeE · lastF · fastF · sayneG · agayneG
- 2 AA tortA · dortA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Justyce now is dede; | 5 | ····· |
| Trowth with a drowsy hede, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As heuy as the lede, | 5 | ····· |
| Is layd down to slepe, | 5 | ····· |
| And takith no kepe; | 5 | ····· |
| And Ryght is ouer the fallows | 7 | ·····/· |
| Gone to seke hallows, | 5 | ···/˘ |
| With Reason together, | 6 | ·/˘˘/˘ |
| No man can tell whether: | 6 | ······ |
| No man wyll vndertake | 5 | ····· |
| The first twayne to wake; | 5 | ····· |
| And the twayne last | 4 | ···· |
| Be withholde so fast | 5 | ····· |
| With mony, as men sayne, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| They can not come agayne. | 6 | ······ |
| A grant tort, | 3 | ··· |
| Foy dort. | 2 | ·· |
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.