Poem II
Next unto this a statelie Towre appeared,Built all of richest stone that might bee found,And nigh unto the heavens in height upreared,But placed on a plot of sandie ground:Not that great towre which is so much renowndFor tongues confusion in Holie Writ,King Ninus worke, might be compar’d to it.
But, O vaine labours of terrestriall wit,That buildes so stronglie on so frayle a soyle,As with each storme does fall away and flit,And gives the fruit of all your travailes toyleTo be the pray of Tyme, and Fortunes spoyle,I saw this towre fall sodainlie to dust,That nigh with griefe thereof my heart was brust.
Words in this poem
- towre v. i.
- To rise and overtop other objects; to be lofty or very high; hence, to soar.
- terrestriall a.
- Of or pertaining to the earth; existing on the earth; earthly; as, terrestrial animals. [L. terrestris, from terra the earth. See Terrace.]
- soyle v. t.
- To solve, to clear up; as, to soyl all other texts. [Aphetic form of assoil.]
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
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.html, id L23738.
Form and metre
Poem II is 14 lines in 2 stanzas of 7 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). Rhymes that have moved apart since the poem was written: forth / worth.
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 ABAB-CC appearedA · foundB · uprearedA · groundB · renownd · writC · itC
- 2 ABABBCC witA · soyleB · flitA · toyleB · spoyleB · dustC · brustC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Next unto this a statelie Towre appeared, | 11 | ········/˘/ |
| Built all of richest stone that might bee found, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And nigh unto the heavens in height upreared, | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
| But placed on a plot of sandie ground: | 10 | ··˘····/˘· |
| Not that great towre which is so much renownd | 10 | ···/······ |
| For tongues confusion in Holie Writ, | 9 | ··˘/˘···· |
| King Ninus worke, might be compar’d to it. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| But, O vaine labours of terrestriall wit, | 10 | ···/˘·˘/˘· |
| That buildes so stronglie on so frayle a soyle, | 12 | ············ |
| As with each storme does fall away and flit, | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| And gives the fruit of all your travailes toyle | 11 | ·······˘/·· |
| To be the pray of Tyme, and Fortunes spoyle, | 11 | ·······/˘·· |
| I saw this towre fall sodainlie to dust, | 10 | ···/······ |
| That nigh with griefe thereof my heart was brust. | 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.