Poem II
“What hart so stonie hard but that would weepe.And poure forth fountaines of incessant teares?What Timon but would let compassion creepeInto his breast, and pierce his frosen eares?In stead of teares, whose brackish bitter wellI wasted have, my heart bloud dropping weares,To think to ground how that faire blossome fell.
“Yet fell she not as one enforst to dye,Ne dyde with dread and grudging discontent,But as one toyld with travell downe doth lye,So lay she downe, as if to sleepe she went,And closde her eyes with carelesse quietriesse;The whiles soft death away her spirit hent,And soule assoyld** from sinfull fleshlinesse.
“Yet ere that life her lodging did forsake,She, all resolv’d, and readie to remove,Calling to me (ay me!) this wise bespake;‘Alcyon! ah, my first and latest love!Ah! why does my Alcyon weepe and mourne,And grieve my ghost, that ill mote him behove,As if to me had chaunst some evill tourne!
“‘I, since the messenger is come for meeThat summons soules unto the bridale feastOf his great Lord, must needs depart from thee,And straight obay his soveraine beheast;Why should Alcyon then so sore lamentThat I from miserie shall be releast,And freed from wretched long imprisonment!
“‘Our daies are full of dolour and disease.Our life afflicted with incessant paine,That nought on earth may lessen or appease;Why then should I desire here to remaine!Or why should he that loves me sorrie beeFor my deliverance, or at all complaineMy good to heare, and toward ioyes to see!
“‘I goe, and long desired have to goe;I goe with gladnesse to my wished rest,Whereas no worlds sad care nor wasting woeMay come, their happie quiet to molest;But saints and angels in celestiall thronesEternally Him praise that hath them blest;There shall I be amongst those blessed ones.
“‘Yet, ere I goe, a pledge I leave with theeOf the late love the which betwixt us past;My young Ambrosia; in lieu of mee,Love her; so shall our love for ever last.Thus, deare! adieu, whom I expect ere long.’—So having said, away she softly past;Weepe, Shepheard! weepe, to make mine undersong.
Words in this poem 22
- travell v. i.
- To labor; to travail. Hooker. [Properly, to labor, and the same word as travail.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- whiles conj.
- During the time that; while. Chaucer. Fuller.
- hent v. t.
- To seize; to lay hold on; to catch; to get. Piers Plowman. [OE. hente, henten, fr. AS. hentan, gehentan, to pursue, take, seize; cf. Icel. henda, Goth. hinpan (in compos.), and E. hunt.]
- sinfull a.
- Tainted with, or full of, sin; wicked; iniquitous; criminal; unholy; as, sinful men; sinful thoughts. Piers Plowman. [AAS. synfull.]
- mourne n.
- The armed or feruled end of a staff; in a sheephook, the end of the staff to which the hook is attached. Sir P. Sidney. [See 2d Morne.]
- ghost n.
- The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
- mote n.
- A meeting of persons for discussion; as, a wardmote in the city of London. [See Moot, a meeting.]
- behove v.
- , and derivatives. See Behoove, & c.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- 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,]
- dolour n.
- Pain; grief; distress; anguish. [OE. dolor, dolur, dolour, F. douleur, L. dolor, fr. dolere. See 1st Dole.]
- whereas adv.
- At which place; where.
- molest v. t.
- To trouble; to disturb; to render uneasy; to interfere with; to vex. [F. molester, L. molestare, fr. molestus troublesome, fr. moles a heavy mass, load, burden. See 3d Mole.]
- celestiall a.
- Belonging to the aërial regions, or visible heavens. [OF. celestial, celestied, fr. L. caelestic, fr. caelum heaved. See Cell.]
- eternally adv.
- In an eternal manner.
- amongst prep.
- Mixed or mingled; surrounded by. [OE. amongist, amonges, amonge, among, AS. onmang, ongemang, gemang, in a crowd or mixture. For the ending -st see Amidst. See Mingle.]
- betwixt prep.
- In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
- deare
- variant of Dere, v. t. & n.
- expect v. t.
- To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
- undersong n.
- The burden of a song; the chorus; the refrain.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume 5, Project Gutenberg ebook #10602; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Edmund Spenser, Poem II, in Amoretti and Epithalamion, and Other Poems (1595), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10602, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/spenser-amoretti/poem-ii-3.html, id L23771.
Form and metre
Poem II is 49 lines in 7 stanzas of 7 lines each. The rhyme scheme is ABABCBC, complete in 4 of its 7 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 89%).
See 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 ABA-CBC weepeA · tearesB · creepeA · eares · wellC · wearesB · fellC
- 2 ABAB-B- dyeA · discontentB · lyeA · wentB · quietriesse · hentB · fleshlinesse
- 3 ABABCBC forsakeA · removeB · bespakeA · loveB · mourneC · behoveB · tourneC
- 4 ABABCBC meeA · feastB · theeA · beheastB · lamentC · releastB · imprisonmentC
- 5 ABABCBC diseaseA · paineB · appeaseA · remaineB · beeC · complaineB · seeC
- 6 ABAB-B- goeA · restB · woeA · molestB · thrones · blestB · ones
- 7 ABABCBC theeA · pastB · meeA · lastB · longC · pastB · undersongC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “What hart so stonie hard but that would weepe. | 10 | ·········· |
| And poure forth fountaines of incessant teares? | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| What Timon but would let compassion creepe | 10 | ·/˘···˘/˘· |
| Into his breast, and pierce his frosen eares? | 10 | ·········· |
| In stead of teares, whose brackish bitter well | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| I wasted have, my heart bloud dropping weares, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| To think to ground how that faire blossome fell. | 10 | ·········· |
| “Yet fell she not as one enforst to dye, | 10 | ·········· |
| Ne dyde with dread and grudging discontent, | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| But as one toyld with travell downe doth lye, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| So lay she downe, as if to sleepe she went, | 10 | ·········· |
| And closde her eyes with carelesse quietriesse; | 10 | ·········· |
| The whiles soft death away her spirit hent, | 10 | ····˘/·/˘· |
| And soule assoyld** from sinfull fleshlinesse. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| “Yet ere that life her lodging did forsake, | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| She, all resolv’d, and readie to remove, | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Calling to me (ay me!) this wise bespake; | 10 | /˘········ |
| ‘Alcyon! ah, my first and latest love! | 10 | /˘˘····/˘· |
| Ah! why does my Alcyon weepe and mourne, | 10 | ····/˘˘··· |
| And grieve my ghost, that ill mote him behove, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| As if to me had chaunst some evill tourne! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| “‘I, since the messenger is come for mee | 10 | ···/˘˘···· |
| That summons soules unto the bridale feast | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Of his great Lord, must needs depart from thee, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And straight obay his soveraine beheast; | 10 | ·········· |
| Why should Alcyon then so sore lament | 10 | ··/˘˘···˘/ |
| That I from miserie shall be releast, | 10 | ·········· |
| And freed from wretched long imprisonment! | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| “‘Our daies are full of dolour and disease. | 10 | /·······˘/ |
| Our life afflicted with incessant paine, | 10 | /·˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| That nought on earth may lessen or appease; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| Why then should I desire here to remaine! | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| Or why should he that loves me sorrie bee | 10 | ·········· |
| For my deliverance, or at all complaine | 10 | ··˘/˘····· |
| My good to heare, and toward ioyes to see! | 10 | ·········· |
| “‘I goe, and long desired have to goe; | 10 | ····˘/˘··· |
| I goe with gladnesse to my wished rest, | 10 | ········˘· |
| Whereas no worlds sad care nor wasting woe | 10 | ˘/·····/˘· |
| May come, their happie quiet to molest; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| But saints and angels in celestiall thrones | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| Eternally Him praise that hath them blest; | 10 | ˘/˘˘······ |
| There shall I be amongst those blessed ones. | 10 | ········˘· |
| “‘Yet, ere I goe, a pledge I leave with thee | 10 | ·········· |
| Of the late love the which betwixt us past; | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| My young Ambrosia; in lieu of mee, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| Love her; so shall our love for ever last. | 10 | ····/··/˘· |
| Thus, deare! adieu, whom I expect ere long.’— | 10 | ··˘/··˘/·· |
| So having said, away she softly past; | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| Weepe, Shepheard! weepe, to make mine undersong. | 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.