Poem V
“Hencefoorth I hate whatever Nature made,And in her workmanship no pleasure finde,For they be all but vaine, and quickly fadeSo soone as on them blowes the northern winde;They tarrie not, but flit and fall away,Leaving behind them nought but griefe of minde,And mocking such as thinke they long will stay.
“I hate the heaven, because it doth withhouldMe from my love, and eke my love from me;I hate the earth, because it is the mouldOf fleshly slime and fraile mortalitie;I hate the fire, because to nought it flyes;I hate the ayre, because sighes of it be;I hate the sea, because it teares supplyes.
“I hate the day, because it lendeth lightTo see all things, and not my love to see;I hate the darknesse and the dreary night,Because they breed sad balefulnesse in mee;I hate all times, because all times doo flySo fast away, and may not stayed bee,But as a speedie post that passeth by.
“I hate to speake, my voyce is spent with crying;I hate to heare, lowd plaints have duld mine eares;I hate to tast, for food withholds my dying;I hate to see, mine eyes are dimd with teares;I hate to smell, no sweet on earth is left;I hate to feele, my flesh is numbd with feares:So all my senses from me are bereft.
“I hate all men, and shun all womankinde;The one, because as I they wretched are;The other, for because I doo not findeMy love with them, that wont to be their starre.And life I hate, because it will not last;And death I hate, because it life doth marre;And all I hate that is to come or past.
“So all the world, and all in it I hate,Because it changeth ever to and fro,And never standeth in one certaine state,But, still unstedfast, round about doth goeLike a mill-wheele in midst of miserie,Driven with streames of wretchednesse and woe,That dying lives, and living still does dye.
“So doo I live, so doo I daylie die,And pine away in selfe-consuming paine!Sith she that did my vitall powres supplie,And feeble spirits in their force maintaine,Is fetcht fro me, why seeke I to prolongMy wearie daies in dolour and disdalne!Weepe, Shepheard! weepe, to make my undersong.
Words in this poem
- flit a.
- Nimble; quick; swift. See Fleet.
- mould n.
- Crumbling, soft, friable earth; esp., earth containing the remains or constituents of organic matter, and suited to the growth of plants; soil. [OE. molde, AS. molde; akin to D. mul, G. mull, mulm, OHG. molt, molta, Icel. mold, Dan. muld, Sw. mull, Goth. mulda, and E. meal flour. See Meal, and cf. Mole a]
- dreary a.
- Sorrowful; distressful. [OE. dreori, dreri, AS. dreórig, sad; akin to G. traurig, and prob. to AS. dreósan to fall, Goth. driusan. Cf. Dross, Drear, Drizzle, Drowse.]
- stayed a.
- Staid; fixed; settled; sober; -- now written staid. See Staid.
- starre n.
- One of the innumerable luminous bodies seen in the heavens; any heavenly body other than the sun, moon, comets, and nebulæ. [OE. sterre, AS. steorra; akin to OFries. stera, OS. sterro, D. ster, OHG. sterno, sterro, G. stern, Icel. stjarna, Sw. stjerna, Dan. stierne, Goth. staírno, Arm]
- marre n.
- A small lake. See Mere.
- sith prep.
- Since; afterwards; seeing that. [See Since.]
- vitall a.
- Belonging or relating to life, either animal or vegetable; as, vital energies; vital functions; vital actions. [F., fr. L. vitalis, fr. vita life; akin to vivere to live. See Vivid.]
- dolour n.
- Pain; grief; distress; anguish. [OE. dolor, dolur, dolour, F. douleur, L. dolor, fr. dolere. See 1st Dole.]
- undersong n.
- The burden of a song; the chorus; the refrain.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Poem V 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 V, in Amoretti and Epithalamion, and Other Poems (1595), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #10602, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/spenser-amoretti/poem-v-3.html, id L23774.
Form and metre
Poem V is 49 lines in 7 stanzas of 7 lines each. The commonest rhyme scheme is ABABCBC, in 3 of the 7 stanzas; the rest vary or could not be confirmed. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 ABABCBC madeA · findeB · fadeA · windeB · awayC · mindeB · stayC
- 2 ABA-CBC withhouldA · meB · mouldA · mortalitie · flyesC · beB · supplyesC
- 3 ABABCBC lightA · seeB · nightA · meeB · flyC · beeB · byC
- 4 ABA-CBC cryingA · earesB · dyingA · teares · leftC · fearesB · bereftC
- 5 ABABCBC womankindeA · areB · findeA · starreB · lastC · marreB · pastC
- 6 ABAB-B- hateA · froB · stateA · goeB · miserie · woeB · dye
- 7 -A-AB-B die · paineA · supplie · maintaineA · prolongB · disdalne · undersongB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| “Hencefoorth I hate whatever Nature made, | 11 | ······/˘/˘· |
| And in her workmanship no pleasure finde, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| For they be all but vaine, and quickly fade | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| So soone as on them blowes the northern winde; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| They tarrie not, but flit and fall away, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Leaving behind them nought but griefe of minde, | 10 | /˘········ |
| And mocking such as thinke they long will stay. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| “I hate the heaven, because it doth withhould | 10 | ···/······ |
| Me from my love, and eke my love from me; | 10 | ·········· |
| I hate the earth, because it is the mould | 10 | ·········· |
| Of fleshly slime and fraile mortalitie; | 11 | ·/˘········ |
| I hate the fire, because to nought it flyes; | 10 | ···/······ |
| I hate the ayre, because sighes of it be; | 10 | ·········· |
| I hate the sea, because it teares supplyes. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| “I hate the day, because it lendeth light | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| To see all things, and not my love to see; | 10 | ·········· |
| I hate the darknesse and the dreary night, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Because they breed sad balefulnesse in mee; | 11 | ··········· |
| I hate all times, because all times doo fly | 10 | ·········· |
| So fast away, and may not stayed bee, | 10 | ··˘/····˘· |
| But as a speedie post that passeth by. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| “I hate to speake, my voyce is spent with crying; | 11 | ·········/˘ |
| I hate to heare, lowd plaints have duld mine eares; | 10 | ·········· |
| I hate to tast, for food withholds my dying; | 11 | ······/··/˘ |
| I hate to see, mine eyes are dimd with teares; | 10 | ·········· |
| I hate to smell, no sweet on earth is left; | 10 | ·········· |
| I hate to feele, my flesh is numbd with feares: | 11 | ··········· |
| So all my senses from me are bereft. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| “I hate all men, and shun all womankinde; | 10 | ·········· |
| The one, because as I they wretched are; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| The other, for because I doo not finde | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| My love with them, that wont to be their starre. | 10 | ·········· |
| And life I hate, because it will not last; | 10 | ·········· |
| And death I hate, because it life doth marre; | 10 | ·········· |
| And all I hate that is to come or past. | 10 | ·········· |
| “So all the world, and all in it I hate, | 10 | ·········· |
| Because it changeth ever to and fro, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And never standeth in one certaine state, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| But, still unstedfast, round about doth goe | 10 | ·········· |
| Like a mill-wheele in midst of miserie, | 11 | ··········· |
| Driven with streames of wretchednesse and woe, | 10 | /˘········ |
| That dying lives, and living still does dye. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| “So doo I live, so doo I daylie die, | 10 | ·········· |
| And pine away in selfe-consuming paine! | 10 | ··˘/··˘/˘· |
| Sith she that did my vitall powres supplie, | 10 | ·····/˘/·· |
| And feeble spirits in their force maintaine, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Is fetcht fro me, why seeke I to prolong | 10 | ········˘/ |
| My wearie daies in dolour and disdalne! | 10 | ·········· |
| Weepe, Shepheard! weepe, to make my undersong. | 10 | ·/˘····/˘˘ |
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