Poem III
Then did I see a pleasant Paradize,Full of sweete flowres and daintiest delights,Such as on earth man could not more devize,With pleasures choyce to feed his cheereful sprights:Not that which Merlin by his magicke slightsMade for the gentle Squire, to entertaineHis fayre Belphoebe, could this gardine staine.
But O short pleasure bought with lasting paine!Why will hereafter anie flesh delightIn earthlie blis, and ioy in pleasures vaine?Since that I sawe this gardine wasted quite,That where it was scarce seemed anie sight;That I, which once that beautie did beholde,Could not from teares my melting eyes with-holde.
Words in this poem
- merlin n.
- A small European falcon (Falco lithofalco, or F. æsalon). [OE. merlion, F. émerillon ; cf. OHG. smirl, G. schmerl ; prob. fr. L. merula blackbird. Cf. Merle.]
- hereafter adv.
- In time to come; in some future time or state. [AS. hræfter.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem III 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 III, in Amoretti and Epithalamion, and Other Poems (1595), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10602, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/spenser-amoretti/poem-iii.html, id L23739.
Form and metre
Poem III is 14 lines in 2 stanzas of 7 lines each. Every stanza rhymes ABABBCC, the Rhyme royal. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in rhyme royal, 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 ABABBCC paradizeA · delightsB · devizeA · sprightsB · slightsB · entertaineC · staineC
- 2 ABABBCC paineA · delightB · vaineA · quiteB · sightB · beholdeC · holdeC
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Then did I see a pleasant Paradize, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Full of sweete flowres and daintiest delights, | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Such as on earth man could not more devize, | 10 | ·········· |
| With pleasures choyce to feed his cheereful sprights: | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| Not that which Merlin by his magicke slights | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Made for the gentle Squire, to entertaine | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| His fayre Belphoebe, could this gardine staine. | 9 | ········· |
| But O short pleasure bought with lasting paine! | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Why will hereafter anie flesh delight | 10 | ··˘/˘···˘/ |
| In earthlie blis, and ioy in pleasures vaine? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Since that I sawe this gardine wasted quite, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| That where it was scarce seemed anie sight; | 10 | ······˘··· |
| That I, which once that beautie did beholde, | 10 | ·········· |
| Could not from teares my melting eyes with-holde. | 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.